THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

RIVERSIDE 


THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 
DAVID  LLOYD  GEORGE 

•    • 
• 

HAROLD  SPENDER 


From  a  Photograph  6y  Miss  Olive  Edis.  F.R.P.8.. 


THE 
PRIME   MINISTER 

BY 

HAROLD  SPENDER 


"Who,  if  he  be  called  upon  to  face 
Some  awful  moment  to  which  Heaven  has  joined 
Great  issues,  good  or  bad,  for  human  kind, 
Is  happy  as  a  Lover;  and  attired 
With  sudden  brightness,  like  a  Man  inspired." 

The  Happy  Warrior. 


NEW  HiPjy  YORK 
GEORGE   H.   DORAN  COMPANY 


9 
LS&A 


COPYRIGHT,  1920, 
BY  GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


FOREWORD 

My  thanks  are  due  for  assistance  in  writing  this 
book  to  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  with  regard  to  whom  I 
have  the  privilege  of  drawing  on  the  memories  of 
twenty-seven  years  of  unbroken  friendship;  to  Mrs. 
Lloyd  George;  to  Mr.  William  George,  the  Prime 
Minister's  only  brother;  to  Mr.  Philip  Kerr  and  Miss 
Stevenson,  C.B.E.,  his  secretaries;  and  to  Mr.  Arthur 
Rhys  Roberts,  formerly  his  professional  partner. 

For  certain  chapters  I  owe  particular  thanks  to  Sir 
John  Stavridi,  Consul-General  of  Greece  and  Council- 
lor of  the  Greek  Legation;  to  Sir  Hubert  Llewellyn 
Smith,  G.C.B.,  Permanent  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Trade;  and  to  Mr.  W.  T.  Layton,  C.B.E.,  formerly 
of  the  Ministry  of  Munitions. 

I  wish  also  to  express  my  gratitude  to  all  the  other 
numerous  persons  who  have  so  generously  helped  me  in 
this  important  task. 

H.  S. 

London,  1920. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  CHILDHOOD  (1863-1873) n 

II  SCHOOL  DAYS  (1873-1877) 26 

III  YOUTH  (1877-1881) 41 

IV  EARLY  MANHOOD  (1881-1886)    ....  51 
V  MARRIAGE  (1886-1888)     .     j?     .     .     .     .  61 

VI  ENTERS  PARLIAMENT  (1888-1891)    ...  75 

VII  FIRST  SKIRMISHES  (1891-1892)   ....  88 

VIII  PITCHED  BATTLES  (1892-1899)    ....  100 

IX  SOUTH  AFRICA  (1899-1902) 114 

X  FOR  WALES  AND  FOR  ENGLAND  (1902-1906)  128 

XI  A  MINISTER  (1906-1908) 139 

XII  A  GERMAN  TOUR  (1908) 150 

XIII  CIVIL  STRIFES  (1908-1914) 161 

XIV  A  WAR  MAN  (1914-1915) 172 

XV  EAST  OR  WEST?  (1915) 183 

XVI  SERBIA  (1915) 195 

XVII  MUNITIONS  (1915) 206 

XVIII  THE  NEW  MINISTRY  OF  MUNITIONS     .     .  218 

XIX  PREMIERSHIP  (1916) 231 

XX  THE  SAVING  OF  ITALY 245 

XXI  THE  VERSAILLES  COUNCIL 257 

XXII  VICTORY 269 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXIII  THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE 285 

XXIV  THE  NEW  WORLD 304 

XXV    THE  MAN 319 

XXVI     HIGHWAYS  AND  BYWAYS 331 

XXVII    THROUGH  FOREIGN  EYES 345 

APPENDIX 

A    PRINCIPAL  DATES  IN  MR.  LLOYD  GEORGE'S 

LIFE   * 359 

B  THE  CRISIS  OF  DECEMBER,  1916:  THE  COR- 
RESPONDENCE BETWEEN  MR.  ASQUITH  AND 
MR.  LLOYD  GEORGE 361 

C  THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE:  MINUTE  OF  THE 
CRITICAL  RUSSIAN  DEBATE  OF  JANUARY, 

1919 369 

D   THE  "FOURTEEN  POINTS" 378 

INDEX 383 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

THE  RIGHT  HON.  DAVID  LLOYD  GEORGE,  O.M.,  M.P. 

Frontispiece 

PAGE 

MR.  WILLIAM  GEORGE,  THE  FATHER  OF  DAVID  LLOYD 
GEORGE 16 

"HIGHGATE" — NOW  "Ross  COTTAGE" — THE  COTTAGE 
AT  LLANYSTUMDWY  WHERE   MR.   LLOYD   GEORGE 

WAS    BROUGHT   UP   AS   A    BoY l6 

"UNCLE  LLOYD":  MR.  RICHARD  LLOYD,  THE  UNCLE 

OF  DAVID  LLOYD  GEORGE 48 

THE  SMITHY  AT  LLANYSTUMDWY:  THE  OLD  "VILLAGE 

PARLIAMENT" 48 

MRS.    WILLIAM    GEORGE,    THE    MOTHER    OF    DAVID 

LLOYD  GEORGE 80 

DAVID  LLOYD  GEORGE  AT  THE  AGE  OF  SIXTEEN       .       80 

MRS.  LLOYD  GEORGE 320 

DAVID  LLOYD  GEORGE  AS  A  YOUNG  MAN.     .     .     .     320 


THE  PRIME  MINISTER 


THE  PRIME  MINISTER 


CHILDHOOD 

"When   that   I   was   and   a  little  tiny  boy, 
With  hey,  ho,  the  wind  and  the"  rain." 

SHAKESPEARE'S  Twelfth  Night,  Act  v,  Sc.  i. 

EVERY  school-child  is  familiar  with  that  striking 
shape  taken  by  North  Wales  on  the  map  of  Britain, 
so  like  to  a  human  being  pointing  with  outstretched 
arm  down  St.  George's  Channel  towards  the  Atlantic. 
In  that  shape  Anglesey  is  the  head,  and  Carnarvon- 
shire is  the  pointed  arm.  On  the  lower  side  of  the 
arm,  towards  the  hollow  of  the  armpit,  there  lie  a  vil- 
lage and  two  small  towns.  Naming  from  west  to  east 
they  are  Llanystumdwy,  Criccieth,  and  Portmadoc. 

In  these  three  places  and  in  the  country  around 
them  the  childhood  and  youth  of  David  Lloyd  George 
was  entirely  spent.  It  was  there  that  he  was  trained 
and  educated,  and  there  that  his  mind  first  formed 
vivid  impressions  of  the  universe — there,  on  the  sea- 
limits  of  Wales  between  the  mountains  and  the  ocean. 

It  is  a  fertile  country,  watered  by  streams  from  the 
mountains  and  showers  from  the  Irish  Channel,  a 
country  of  deep  grasses  and  rich  woods  right  up  to  the 
foot  of  the  mountains  and  down  to  the  verge  of  the 

ii 


12  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

sea.  From  every  raised  point  you  obtain  wide-stretch- 
ing views.  Facing  you  along  the  south-eastern  horizon 
are  the  hills  of  Merionethshire,  often  shrouded  in  sea- 
mist,  but  on  good  days  clear  to  the  utmost  detail  of 
field  and  hedgerow.  Still  farther  away,  in  the  very  best 
weather,  can  sometimes  be  seen  even  the  outline  of 
St.  David's  Head  and  of  the  Pembrokeshire  hills. 
Nearer  home,  the  great  stretch  of  Cardigan  Bay  sweeps 
round  to  the  east  in  many  a  bend  and  fold  of  the  coast. 
From  above  Criccieth  you  can  see  the  famous  castle 
of  Harlech  and  the  golden  glitter  of  the  sands  at  Bar- 
mouth,  though  you  cannot  hear  the  "moaning  of  the 
bar."  Taking  it  all  in  all,  there  are  few  finer  pros- 
pects along  the  immense  and  varied  sea-board  of  these 
islands. 

Turn  from  the  sea  and  look  northwards;  and  you 
will  gain  glorious  glimpses  of  the  great  piled  mountains 
of  the  Snowdon  group,  sometimes  hidden  in  cloud, 
sometimes  clear  to  every  wrinkle  of  their  rugged  out- 
lines. These  are  "Eyri" — the  "Eagle  Rocks" — black 
in  storm,  blue  and  green  in  the  sunshine,  purple  and 
crimson  in  the  sunset.  There  is  no  mere  prettiness  in 
these  mighty  views,  no  soft  luxury  of  Italian  back- 
grounds, and  yet  no  barren  terrors  of  arctic  solitudes. 
On  all  sides  there  is  majesty  and  power — the  power 
of  the  height  and  the  storm,  the  majesty  of  the  winds 
and  the  deeps. 

Of  these  three  places  in  which  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
spent  his  childhood  and  youth,  Portmadoc  is  the  busi- 
ness town,  Criccieth  is  the  pleasure  resort,  and  Llany- 
stumdwy  is  the  village.  Portmadoc,  with  its  straight- 
set  streets  of  little  grey  houses,  speaks  of  money  and 
affairs;  Criccieth  is  a  little  watering-place  of  lodging- 


CHILDHOOD  18 

houses  and  villas  prettily  placed  in  the  innermost  bend 
of  Cardigan  Bay;  Llanystumdwy  is  just  a  little  Welsh 
village  drawn  back  from  the  sea  and  cosily  hidden  away 
in  the  woods,  astride  a  little  mountain  river  which  hur- 
ries down  to  the  sea  with  many  a  rippling  murmur  and 
many  a  gleam  of  white  foam  on  its  brown  waters. 

It  was  to  this  little  village  of  Llanystumdwy — 
Welsh  of  the  Welsh  in  name,  situation,  and  tradition 
- — that  David  Lloyd  George  was  brought  at  the  age  of 
a  year  and  a  half. 

Up  to  that  time,  indeed,  life  had  not  gone  very  well 
with  the  young  child.  For  his  father,  William  George, 
had  just  died  in  the  prime  of  his  life,  at  forty-four 
years  of  age.  Mrs.  William  George,  with  David  and 
his  elder  sister  Mary,  had  been  left  but  scantily  pro- 
vided to  face  an  unsmiling  world. 

David's  father,  William  George,  was  an  able,  earn- 
est man,  very  sociable,  full  of  fun  and  humour,  and 
very  happy  in  his  home  life.  Brought  up  on  a  pros- 
perous farm  in  South  Wales,  he  could  easily  have  fol- 
lowed smoothly  and  serenely  in  the  steps  of  his  thriv- 
ing forefathers.  For  there,  on  that  fertile  coast,  his 
father  and  grandfather  had  farmed  well  and  fared 
sumptuously,  holding  their  heads  high.1 

But  William  George  was  not  content  with  farming. 
Early  in  life  he  fell  in  love  with  books  and  the  things 
of  the  mind;  and  through  his  short  life  he  wandered 

1  Here  is  his  pedigree  on  the  paternal  side : 

William  George  (farmer)  and  his  wife  (lived  to  80  and  90  years  re- 

|  spectively) 

David  George    (farmer,  died  at  33) 

William  George  (schoolmaster,  died  at  44) 
David  Lloyd  George. 


14  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

— a  true  "scholar-gipsy" — from  school  to  school,  try- 
ing to  kindle  the  youth  of  Wales  to  the  passion  for 
knowledge  in  those  early  difficult  days  before  the  Edu- 
cation Acts  had  come  to  make  the  schoolmaster  a  power 
in  the  land.  He  taught  in  London  and  Liverpool;  he 
opened  a  grammar-school  of  his  own  in  Haverford- 
west;  he  served  the  Free  Churches  and  the  Unitarians 
— any  and  all  who  felt  the  fire  of  knowledge  and  shared 
his  passion  to  extend  its  power.  He  became  the  friend 
of  that  great,  pure  spirit,  Henry  Martineau  * — a  fact 
alone  sufficient  to  prove  his  high  quality. 

The  fire  of  the  schoolmaster's  zeal  burnt  him  up. 
He  was  never  a  strong  man;  and  a  life  of  excessive 
labour  had  exhausted  him  before  his  time.  He  re- 
solved to  lay  down  his  ferule  and  return  to  the  land 
of  his  forefathers.  As  his  last  teaching  task,  he  took 
a  temporary  headmastership  at  Manchester  and  lodged 
in  a  little  house  in  York  Place,  off  Oxford  Road.  A 
few  years  before,  when  teaching  at  Pwllheli,  he  had 
loved  and  wedded  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  a  Bap- 
tist minister,  David  Lloyd,  who  preached  and  min- 
istered in  Criccieth  and  the  village  of  Llanystumdwy. 

With  fair  skin  and  a  wealth  of  dark  hair,  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam George  was  in  youth  and  early  womanhood  a 
comely  and  fascinating  woman.  I  saw  her  only  in  later 
life;  and,  though  sorrows  and  trials  had  told  on  her 
frail  frame,  her  troubles  had  only  added  to  the  fine 
charm  and  spirituality  of  her  character.  "Happy  he 
with  such  a  mother!"  She  proved  to  William  George 

1 A  large  engraving  of  Dr.  Henry  Martineau,  signed  by  himself 
and  set  in  a  massive  oak  frame,  is  one  of  the  treasured  family  heir- 
looms to-day. 


CHILDHOOD  15 

a  capital  housewife,  and  helped  him  to  save  enough 
to  leave  to  her  a  small  property  even  out  of  their  hard- 
earned  savings. 

To  this  couple  had  already  been  born  the  daughter 
Mary.  Now,  on  January  lyth,  1863,  a  son  was  born 
also  and  named  David,  after  his  two  grandfathers — 
David  George  and  David  Lloyd.  His  admiring  father 
recorded  at  the  time  that  the  little  David  was  a 
"sturdy,  healthy  little  fellow"  with  curly  hair.  At  any 
rate,  his  father  thought  so;  and  thus,  as  a  last  flash 
of  happiness  to  his  dying  father,  little  David  came  into 
the  world. 

By  such  a  chance  twist  of  events,  Manchester  can 
claim  to  be  the  birthplace  of  David  Lloyd  George. 

Before  he  went  to  Manchester,  William  George  had 
already  decided  to  give  up  schoolmastering;  and  soon 
after  David's  birth,  towards  the  end  of  1863,  he  left 
Manchester  and  entered  into  occupation  of  a  small 
farm  named  Bwlford,  about  four  miles  from  Haver- 
fordwest  in  Pembrokeshire. 

It  was  close  to  the  home  of  his  fathers. 

But  this  change  came  too  late  to  save  his  life.  He 
was  already  a  tired  man,  and  he  was  not  equal  to  the 
strain  of  outdoor  labour.  On  June  yth,  1864,  he  died 
of  pneumonia,  due  to  a  chill  caught  in  gardening. 

Thus  little  David  was  left  fatherless  before  he  had 
lived  eighteen  months  on  the  earth;  and  on  the  thres- 
hold of  life  he  was  robbed  of  the  influence  which 
ought  to  be  the  strongest  prop  and  stay  of  a  young 
boy's  life.  His  father  left  him  before  the  age  of  mem- 
ory. Yet  memory  is  a  strange  thing;  for  when  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  revisited  the  home  of  his  infancy  some 


16  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

few  years  ago,  he  recalled  instantly,  with  surprising 
accuracy,  some  features  of  his  father's  farm.1 

The  sudden  death  of  William  George  left  David's 
mother  with  two  small  children  on  her  hands,  and 
another  on  the  way  to  this  vale  of  tears.  The  family 
inheritance  ought  to  have  left  her  in  comparative  se- 
curity to  bring  up  this  family  well.  But  William 
George,  with  that  large-hearted  generosity  which  had 
always  characterised  him,  had  allowed  the  family  patri- 
mony which  devolved  on  him  as  heir-at-law  to  be  en- 
joyed by  others  whom  he  thought  to  be  in  greater  need 
than  himself.  Such  savings  as  they  had  put  together 
from  a  schoolmaster's  salary  could  not  suffice  to  Taring 
up  a  family  in  comfort  or  security.  Thus  to  the  grief 
of  her  husband's  death  there  was  added  for  Mrs. 
William  George  a  grave  and  acute  anxiety  for  the  up- 
bringing of  her  children.  It  looked  as  if  that  little 
family  would  be  driven  into  that  wilderness  of  poverty 
which  is  no  easy  dwelling-place  in  these  islands. 

But  far  away  up  in  Carnarvonshire,  in  that  little 
Welsh  village  which  was  her  birth-place,  Mrs.  William 
George  had  a  brother  named  Richard  Lloyd.2  He  was 
not  at  all  like  the  wealthy  godfather  of  the  story- 
books. He  was  not  by  any  means  rich  or  prosperous. 
He  was  just  the  village  bootmaker  at  a  time  when  boots 
were  still  made  in  villages.  True,  he  was  also,  like  his 
father  before  him,  a  preacher  and  a  minister.  But 
he  possessed  no  rich  living  or  easy  sinecure;  on  the 
contrary,  like  Paul  the  tent-maker,  he  received  no 

'He  noticed  that  a  passage  had  been  widened,  and  he  asked  after 
a  green  gate  which  was  found  to  have  been  removed.  He  can  still 
remember  his  sister  putting  stones  under  the  gate  to  prevent  the  men 
from  coming  to  take  away  his  father's  goods. 

'At  this  time  thirty  years  of  age.    Born  in  July  1834. 


MR.    WILLIAM    GEOHGE,    THE    FATHER    OF   DAVID    LLOYD    GEORGE. 


. 

c  - 
-  c 


CHILDHOOD  17 

penny  of  pay  for  either  his  preaching  or  his  ministry. 
He  belonged  to  a  religious  community  classed  with 
the  Baptists  and  called  the  "Disciples  of  Christ,"  who 
held  a  belief,  unpopular  in  ecclesiastical  circles,  that 
a  man  ought  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ  and  feed 
His  flock  without  pay  or  reward.1 

In  that  simple  faith  he  then  preached  and  taught 
in  the  plain,  grey  little  chapel  above  Criccieth  and  bap- 
tized in  the  little  green  basin  of  fresh  spring  water 
ever  renewed  by  the  running  stream. 

Yet  this  preaching  bootmaker  did  not  seem  to  have 
suffered  seriously  in  his  Christianity  by  this  strange 
and  rare  distaste  for  endowment.  If  it  be  still,  as  an 
Apostle  once  thought,  "true  religion  and  undefiled"  to 
"visit  the  widow  and  the  fatherless,"  Richard  Lloyd 
went  straight  to  the  mark.  For  on  receiving  his  sis- 
ter's tragic  news  he  put  down  his  tools,  left  his  work- 
shop, and  started  out  to  help  his  bereaved  relations. 
There  was  no  railway  from  Criccieth  to  Carnarvon  in 
those  days;  so  for  some  twenty  miles  he  journeyed  on 
foot.  Then  from  Carnarvon  he  took  the  train  to 
Haverfordwest,  and  joined  his  widowed  sister  on  her 
farm,  a  true  friend  and  comforter.  He  stayed  for, 
some  months  helping  her  with  the  sale  of  her  farm-lease 
and  her  stock.  Then  he  took  back  the  mother  and 
the  two  children,  Mary  and  David,  to  his  own  little 
home  at  Llanystumdwy.  That  is  a  plain  record  of  a 
simple  and  heroic  act. 

There,  in  that  little  Welsh  mountain  village,  with- 

1  The  movement  had  its  origin  in  one  of  those  great  efforts  after 
a  return  to  simple  Christianity  which  have  from  time  to  time  stirred 
the  surface  of  the  Welsh  Churches.  This  was  led  by  Mr.  J.  R. 
Jones  of  Ramoth,  who  died  in  1822.  David  Lloyd  became  one  of 
its  elders,  and  was  largely  influenced  by  the  writings  of  the  Campbells. 
The  Campbellites  in  the  United  States  still  number  some  2,000,000. 


18  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

out  any  show  or  fuss,  the  sister  and  her  children  be- 
came part  of  Richard  Lloyd's  home.  A  few  months 
later  the  third  child  was  born  posthumously — a  second 
boy,  William  George.  The  little  stranger  was  wel- 
comed in  that  simple,  hospitable  home. 

So  for  the  next  twelve  years  the  little  family  lived 
and  throve  in  the  bootmaker's  cottage  at  Llanystum- 
dwy;  and  there,  in  those  village  surroundings,  little 
David  grew  from  infancy  to  manhood. 

Let  us  see  what  the  surroundings  were. 

The  little  cottage  stands  to-day  for  all  the  world 
to  visit — two-storied,  four-roomed,  creepered,  slate- 
roofed;  then  called  "Highgate,"  now  "Rose  Cottage" 
— a  sweet-smelling  name.  The  front  door  opens  on  to 
the  living-room — a  warm,  cosy  chamber  with  a  raf- 
tered ceiling,  a  big  fire-place,  and  a  floor  of  worn  slate- 
slabs.  It  was  in  this  room  that  the  family  had  their 
meals  and  gathered  in  the  evenings  when  the  uncle 
read  and  talked  to  them.  It  was  there  that  he  cheered 
and  rebuked  those  growing  boys. 

You  step  round  a  low  screen  into  a  smaller  room, 
once  a  storeroom  for  leather,  but  in  those  years  used 
as  the  boys'  study.  Here  the  boys  were  "interned" 
during  the  daily  hours  of  home  work;  for  Uncle  Lloyd 
was  as  strict  as  he  was  kind. 

Between  the  two  rooms  a  small  cottage  staircase 
mounts  to  the  bedrooms — now  three,  in  those  days 
two.  The  boys  slept  in  the  little  front  room  looking 
over  the  street. 

Descend  again  and  pass  through  the  back  door.  You 
pass  into  a  fair-sized  cottage  garden,  with  several  fruit- 
trees — apple,  plum,  and  gooseberry.  Every  inch  of 


CHILDHOOD  19 

the  soil  is  filled  with  vegetables.  There  are  traces  of 
an  old  pigsty  that  once  stood  against  the  cottage  wall. 
Move  a  few  steps  to  your  left,  and  you  can  enter  a 
little  stone  building  that  gives  the  impression  of  having 
been  a  single-roomed  cottage.  It  is  now  like  a  capa- 
cious cave.  This  was  Richard  Lloyd's  workshop. 
There  is  a  large  fireplace  in  the  corner  near  the  garden. 
On  the  side  nearer  the  road  is  a  space  where  the 
benches  of  Richard  Lloyd's  workmen  ran  along  the  wall 
by  the  small  window.  There  by  the  door  is  the  little 
hole  in  the  wall  where  Richard  Lloyd  kept  his  papers 
and  into  which  the  boys  pushed  their  books.  It  looks 
like  an  old  spy-hole,  now  blocked  at  the  farther  end. 

This  place  was  not  merely  a  workshop.  It  was 
known  as  "the  village  Parliament."  Here  the  "village 
Hampdens"  poured  out  their  grievances;  hither  the 
evicted  farmers  and  underpaid  labourers  came  to  con- 
sult the  village  oracle.  On  wet  days  the  place  was 
crowded.  For  bootmakers  are  notorious  storm-centres 
both  in  town  and  country;  and  this  bootmaker  was  a 
prophet  and  priest  as  well. 

It  was  always  both  the  refuge  and  the  guard-room 
of  the  village  children.  There,  against  the  corner, 
looking  into  the  sad  grey  wall,  stood  the  children  who 
had  misbehaved,  waiting  for  Richard  Lloyd's  kindly 
word  of  release.  Good  boys  would  often  bring  bad 
boys  to  be  punished;  and  the  good  boys  did  not  always 
get  off  without  a  clearance  of  soul.  Who  could  tell 
whether  "Uncle  Lloyd"  was  going  to  be  stern  or  soft? 
It  was  always  a  fascinating  mystery  for  children — 
that  workshop ;  in  any  case,  there  were  always  the  boot- 
makers' tools  to  finger  and  handle  if  you  were  lucky. 
The  children  knew  that  Uncle  Lloyd  found  it  very  hard 


20  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

to  refuse  a  thread;  and  what  more  fascinating  than 
beeswax?  Sticky,  black,  and  smelly  1  But  put  out 
your  hand  for  the  knife — then  ten  to  one  he  would  see 
you — and  instantly  the  stern  look  would  come  into  his 
grey  eyes,  his  eyebrows  would  contract,  and  he  would 
cry  in  the  voice  which  thrilled  you — "No  I  No  1  Not 
that!  Not  that  I" 

Pass  out  of  this  little  crumbling  old  building,  with 
the  slates  now  sagging  down  as  if  the  whole  thing  might 
collapse,  but  for  the  one  upright  beam  which  now 
supports  the  roof,  and  take  a  few  steps  still  to  your 
left  along  the  stone  footpath.  There  you  find  the  gar- 
den divided  from  the  street  only  by  a  low  wall  of 
rubble.  Over  that  wall,  David — like  that  other  David, 
the  sweet-singing  psalmist  of  Israel *  would  often  leap, 
and  head  across  the  village  on  some  boyish  adven- 
ture. 

In  these  buildings  the  Lloyds  had  lived  for  several 
generations.  There  is  still  (1920)  living  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Llanystumdwy  an  old  tailor  of  ninety-five 
years  of  age  whose  chief  pride  it  is  that  he  made  the 
first  pair  of  trousers  for  the  Prime  Minister  of  Eng- 
land. The  old  man  can  remember  David  Lloyd,  the 
grandfather  of  the  Prime  Minister,  cutting  leather  in 
the  little  room  on  the  right  of  the  entrance  door  of 
the  cottage.  He  can  remember  this  friend  and  neigh- 
bour, who  was  also  a  minister  and  preacher,  breaking 
forth  into  singing  verse  when  moved,  as  those  bardic 
preachers  of  Wales  are  still  wont  to  do.2  Bobby  Jones, 
the  son  of  this  old  tailor,  was  one  of  David's  intimate 
comrades  of  boyhood;  and  they  two  carved  their  names 

1  See  Psalm  iviii.  verse  29. 

*  He   was  ordained   on  May  zoth,   1828,   in  the   Baptist  chapel   at 
Criccieth  and  died  in  1839.    This  singing  habit  is  known  as  "hwyl." 


CHILDHOOD  «1 

together  on  the  trees  in  the  woods  and  on  the  village 
bridge. 

Many  legends  have  already  grown  round  Richard 
Lloyd's  cottage  and  the  life  lived  in  it.  There  is  no 
need  to  exaggerate  the  poverty  of  that  home.  Richard 
Lloyd  was  a  master  boot-maker  and  always  employed 
at  least  two  hands.  He  must  have  earned  a  good  week- 
ly sum.  His  chief  fault  was  that  he  could  not  collect 
his  money.  It  was  somewhat  distressing  to  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam George  to  hear  her  brother  serenely  say  to  cus- 
tomers :  "I  can  wait — any  time  will  do."  She,  being 
a  woman,  well  knew  that  in  the  matter  of  collecting 
debts  there  is  no  time  like  the  present. 

At  any  rate,  all  that  he  had  was  theirs.  They  were 
fed  on  simple  fare — more  oats  and  barley,  as  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  has  since  told  us,  than  wheat — but  they 
were  well  fed.  Eggs  were  cheap  in  the  village,  and 
the  garden  was  full  of  vegetables.  There  were  doubt- 
less hard  times.  There  was  little  meat — perhaps  they 
were  none  the  worse  for  that.  But  these  children  were 
nevertheless  always  held  up  in  school  as  models  of 
neatness  and  cleanliness.  There  was  little  to  spare  for 
pleasure.  There  was  no  easy  flow  of  "pocket-money" 
for  these  boys.  But  they  possessed  the  heart  of  the 
whole  matter.  They  loved  one  another,  and  they  were 
happy.  "It  was  a  little  paradise,"  says  one  who  stayed 
there  often,1  and  when  asked  to  explain  she  adds: 
"there  was  such  high  talk." 

"Plain  living  and  high  thinking,"  was  the  note  of 
that  little  home.  Here,  indeed,  was — 

"Fearful   innocence, 
And  pure  religion,  breathing  household  laws." 

1  Miss  Jones,  a  niece  of  Richard  Lloyd. 


22  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

There  was  also  much  kindness  and  humanity.  Rich- 
ard Lloyd  could  not  for  long  be  a  stern  uncle.  The 
pictures  handed  down  to  us  are  Goldsmithian  in  their 
quaint  and  simple  charm — the  little  David  sitting  on 
one  of  his  uncle's  knees  and  punctuating  his  infant 
periods  by  beating  his  fist  on  the  other;  or,  in  later 
years,  wheedling  his  uncle  with  some  clever  boyish 
defence  of  an  indefensible  prank;  or  listening  for  long 
hours,  with  open  mouth  and  eyes,  to  the  "deep  sighing 
of  the  poor,"  as  the  farmers  and  labourers  from  all  the 
district  round  poured  their  tales  of  woe  into  the  ears 
of  the  gentle  village  seer. 

I  saw  much  of  Richard  Lloyd  at  a  later  time.  He 
was  a  man  who  always  lived  on  the  heights  of  thought 
and  feeling;  he  was  one  of  nature's  great  men  to  whom 
goodness  was  a  delight:  he  was  one  of  God's  cru- 
saders. Tall  and  bearded,  but  with  a  clean-shaven 
mouth  and  dark  eyebrows,  he  was  a  man  of  singular 
di'gnity  and  strength  both  in  bearing  and  expression. 
It  is  difficult  to  describe  the  impression  of  mingled 
strength  and  tenderness  which  he  gave.  His  face  had 
some  of  the  vigour  of  the  eagle;  and  yet  with  it  all 
his  voice  had  some  of  the  softness  of  the  dove.  He 
loved  children  with  all  the  strength  of  his  large,  warm 
heart;  and  yet  he  was  never  weak  with  them,  but  some- 
times very  stern,  with  the  strength  of  those  who  can 
be  "cruel  only  to  be  kind." 

"He  was  the  most  selfless  man  I  ever  knew,"  is  the 
deliberate  verdict  of  one  of  his  foster  children  to-day. 
"Even  in  illness  he  never  spoke  of  himself.  It  was 
painful  to  him  even  to  think  of  himself." 

Such  was  the  high  influence  that  filled  that  little 
cottage  and  made  it  a  fit  nursery  for  a  ruler  of  men. 


CHILDHOOD  23 

From  the  moment  that  Richard  Lloyd  took  over  the 
guardianship  of  his  sister's  bereaved  family  he  gave  to 
the  task  all  his  resources  of  money,  love,  and  wisdom. 
He  was  not  one  of  those  who  know  limits  to  giving — 

"Give  all  thou  canst;  high  Heaven  rejects  the  lore 
Of  nicely  calculated  less  or  more." 

He  laboured  for  these  children  as  if  they  had  been  his 
own.  If  money  was  spared  it  was  only  to  save  it  for 
their  better  training  in  later  years. 

The  only  available  school  at  that  time  in  Llandy- 
stumdwy  was  the  National  School  provided  by  the  Es- 
tablished Church  of  England  and  Wales;  and  to  that 
school  the  children  had  to  go.  Many  years  afterwards, 
when  the  House  of  Commons  was  in  the  midst  of  one 
of  its  chronic  wrangles  over  religious  education,  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  startled  the  High  Churchmen  by  putting 
himself  forward  as  a  specimen  of  their  chosen  educa- 
tion. He  was  well  within  the  letter  of  the  fact;  but 
I  doubt  whether  the  Llanystumdwy  Voluntary  School 
at  that  time  could  be  called  an  average  Church  School ; 
for  the  head  master  of  the  school — a  Welshman  named 
David  Evans — was  more  than  an  average  schoolmas- 
ter.1 He  was  a  good  "scholar"  and  mathematician, 
and  he  taught  well.  He  gave  the  young  boys  that  thor- 
ough grounding  in  the  elements  of  knowledge  which 
is  really  a  better  gift  for  the  young  than  all  the  frills 
of  a  more  dainty  schooling.  Richard  Lloyd,  at  any 
rate,  showed  his  confidence  in  this  teaching  by  keeping 
the  boys  on  at  school  for  two  years  beyond  the  or- 
dinary limited  time.  From  twelve  to  fourteen  years 

1  See  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  charming  sketch  of  the  schoolmaster  in  his 
speech  at  Llanystumdwy  on  September  8th,  1917:  "He  had  a  genius 
for  teaching." 


24  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

of  age  David  Lloyd  George  worked  with  a  small  group 
of  boys  also  still  remaining  on  at  school  in  what  would 
now  be  called  an  "Ex  Vllth"  standard.  These  boys 
carried  their  mathematics  on  as  far  as  trigonometry, 
learned  the  elements  of  Latin,  and  were  encouraged 
to  read  widely.  David  Evans  kept  a  close  eye  on  these 
studies,  and  Richard  Lloyd  found  the  fees  well  worth 
his  while. 

I  have  talked  to  one  of  the  boys  *  who  stayed  on 
at  school  with  David  Lloyd  George,  and  his  impres- 
sions of  that  time  are  still  very  vivid.  His  recollection 
is  that  David  Lloyd  George  was  the  quickest  boy  of  this 
little  group.  David  could  do  twice  as  much  work  as 
any  other  boy  in  the  same  time.  He  still  remembers 
the  envy  and  annoyance  which  this  habit  used  to  cause 
among  David's  companions.  But  little  David  was  espe- 
cially quick  at  higher  mathematics.  "He  was  through 
trigonometry,"  says  this  witness,  "b*y  the  time  we 
started."  He  was  very  rapid  at  mental  arithmetic. 

But  perhaps  the  most  active  part  of  his  growth  came 
outside  his  school  life.  Most  of  the  other  boys  of  their 
age  had  left  school  and  gone  out  to  work,  and  those 
few  picked  ones  that  remained  were  a  small  company 
and  hardly  numerous  enough  for  games  on  a  large 
scale.  Thus  it  was  that  they  took  to  walking  instead 
of  play;  and  during  these  walks  David  began  to  de- 
velop that  habit  of  keen  discussion  which  he  has  loved 
throughout  his  life.  His  favourite  subjects  in  those 
days  were  Baptism  and  Tithe.  Among  the  little  com- 
pany were  two  pupil-teachers  who  were  a  little  older 
than  the  boys  themselves.  Both  of  these  teachers  were 
destined  for  the  Church;  one  of  them  became  a  rector 

*Mr.  William  Williams,  who  occupies  a  farm  near  Llanystumdwy. 


CHILDHOOD  25 

and  another  became  a  canon  of  St.  David's.1  We  can 
imagine  the  debates  that  took  place  within  this  little 
company  of  keen,  honest,  ardent  youths ! 

Thus,  in  this  varied  life  of  work  and  play,  the  young 
David  grew  from  infancy  to  youth,  there  in  that  distant 
little  Welsh  village,  between  the  mountains  and  the 
sea. 

'The    Rev.    Owen    Owens    and    Canon    Camber- Williams    of    St. 
David's. 


CHAPTER  II 

SCHOOL  DAYS 

"Ye  Presences  of  Nature  in  the  sky 
And  on  the  earth!     Ye  visions  of  the  hills. 
And  Souls  of  lonely  places!  can  I  think 
A  vulgar  hope  was  yours  when  ye  employed 
Such  ministry?" 

WORDSWORTH'S  Prelude. 

THE  training  of  a  little  Welsh  Nonconformist  child 
in  a  village  Church  School  must  lead  either  to  sub- 
mission or  to  revolt.  In  most  cases  it  leads  to  sub- 
mission. In  this  case  it  led  to  revolt.  That  is  what 
makes  the  story  of  David  Lloyd  George  worth  tell- 
ing. 

To  subject  children  of  one  faith  to  the  religious 
discipline  of  another  in  a  school  subsidised  by  the  State 
was,  and  still  is,  part  of  the  ordinary  machinery  of  life 
in  this  island;  and  it  is  generally  acquiesced  in  by 
children,  who  as  a  rule  suffer  from  a  great  fear  of 
varying  from  their  kind. 

But  in  this  case  there  were  influences  behind  the  boy 
which  suggested  the  thought  of  injustice;  and  there  is 
no  more  flaming  thought  in  the  mind  of  a  young  child. 
There  was  the  uncle  in  the  workshop,  type  of  the 
heroic  and  the  divine;  he  was  against  the  system,  and 
did  not  hesitate  to  say  so  in  the  presence  of  the  boys. 
Then  there  was  the  village  blacksmith,  whose  "smithy," 
hard  by  the  school,  was  a  sort  of  village  cave  of  Adul- 

26 


SCHOOL  DAYS  27 

lam;  he  said  so  between  the  clang  of  the  hammer  on 
the  reverberant  anvil,  and  what  he  said  was  law.  No 
wonder  that  there  stirred  in  the  boy's  mind  the  working 
wonder  whether  he  should  really  submit. 

There  was,  for  instance,  the  yearly  visit  of  the  rector, 
the  squire,  and  the  gentry,  in  full  feudal  state,  to  hear 
the  replies  to  the  Church  Catechism — a  sort  of  annual 
homage  to  the  powers  that  were,  not  unusual  in  vil- 
lage schools. 

Then  there  was  the  visit  of  the  Bishop,  who  was 
willing  to  confirm  as  many  children,  Baptist  or  other- 
wise, as  the  rector  would  present  for  him  to  lay  hands 
on. 

Now  David  admired  his  schoolmaster  and  worked 
hard  and  steadily  in  the  only  school  accessible  to  him. 
But  when  the  Church  tried  to  turn  his  necessity  to  such 
uses  he  remembered  that  he  was  a  Nonconformist  child 
born  of  Nonconformist  parents.  Then  he  became  a 
rebel. 

The  tales  of  these  school  revolts  have  already  be- 
come part  of  the  heroic  legends  of  Wales.  They  have 
been  told  in  many  forms.  I  will  try  to  tell  the  simple 
facts  as  gathered  from  contemporary  witnesses  and 
comrades. 

The  most  famous  revolt  occurred  over  the  Cate- 
chism. We  can  recapture  the  scene.  There  were  the 
three  village  authorities — the  Squire,  the  Rector,  and 
the  Schoolmaster,  together  with  the  Diocesan  Inspec- 
tor and  a  bevy  of  fair  ladies — standing  in  front  of  the 
little  class  of  Welsh  children  in  the  grey  little  building, 
expecting  nothing  but  meekness  and  docility.  Nothing 
fierce  about  these  visitors,  you  may  be  sure — rather  an 
attitude  of  smiling  expectancy  as  they  waited  to  hear 


28  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

the  children  repeat  in  chorus  the  comforting  assertion 
that  they  were  ready  to  order  themselves  "lowly  and 
reverently"  to  all  their  "betters." 

But  look  at  the  children.  Their  eyes  look  strangely 
bright  and  their  lips  are  drawn  together.  There  have 
been  many  whisperings  on  the  way  to  school,  and  much 
flitting  to  and  fro  of  the  small  Scotch  cap  with  the 
ribbons  that  David  wore.  Some  look  flushed;  others 
look  grave  and  pale.  Fear  battles  against  resolve. 
Something  big  is  struggling  in  those  little  minds. 

The  rector  puts  his  questions;  the  squire  affably 
awaits  the  reply;  the  schoolmaster  looks  stern.  Little 
David  looks  unusually  innocent. 

There  is  a  dead  silence. 

The  rector  raises  his  eyebrows  and  repeats  the 
question : 

"What  is  thy  duty  towards  thy  neighbour?" 

Still,  a  dead  silence. 

And  so  the  question  is  passed  from  child  to  child. 
The  little  heads  are  shaken.  The  little  faces  grow 
paler  and  paler.  But  still  silence. 

The  rector  turns  to  the  schoolmaster  questioningly. 
The  schoolmaster  is  white  with  vexation.  The  squire 
smiles  indulgently.  Little  David  looks  more  innocent 
than  ever. 

But  farther  along  the  line,  behind  his  little  desk, 
sits  a  boy  with  a  little  troubled,  anxious  face,  looking 
as  if  he  were  the  centre  of  guilt  in  that  little  company. 
He  watches  with  growing  trouble  the  ashen  face  of  the 
schoolmaster;  for  he  loves  his  master  with  all  his  soul, 
and  he  cannot  bear  to  see  him  suffer.  For  this  is  little 
William  George — a  boy  of  milder,  quieter  tempera- 
ment, given  to  love  his  enemies;  and  when  his  much- 


SCHOOL  DAYS  39 

distressed  head  master  appeals  to  the  children  to  recite 
the  Apostles'  Creed  it  is  William  George  who  suddenly 
breaks  the  silence  with  a  strident  "I  believe,"  and  all 
but  two  or  three  "infant"  Die-Hards  join  in  the  recital 
that  followed.  The  schoolmaster  turns  to  the  class 
with  a  flush  of  pleasure;  the  rector  smiles — "good 
boys" — the  squire  nods  approvingly;  and  the  scene  ends 
as  suddenly  as  it  began. 

So  much  for  the  Catechism  revolt.  The  second 
revolt  arose  over  the  Church's  claim  to  "confirm."  * 

It  was  little  William  Williams,  one  of  David's  inti- 
mates, who  had  been  selected  as  a  capture  for  the 
Bishop.  His  father,  a  Calvinistic  Methodist,  but  with 
a  kindly  heart  for  the  great,  had  surrendered  the  lad  to 
the  rector.  William  had  been  duly  prepared  and  in- 
structed. Confirmation  day  had  arrived.  William 
Williams,  shining  with  soap,  smart  in  his  best  clothes, 
was  already  on  the  road — walking  to  school  to  join  the 
church  boys.  There  the  little  catechumens,  all  duly 
marshalled,  were  waiting  to  be  marched  off  to  the 
church. 

But  on  the  way  to  school  it  was  fated  that  William 
Williams  should  meet  David  Lloyd  George.  Seeing 
his  friend  so  smart,  David  naturally  asked  what  he  was 
going  to  do.  Williams  told  him.  David's  eyes  flashed; 
his  voice  rang  out.  He  argued;  he  persuaded;  he 
urged.  Not  that !  Not  that !  His  winged  words  went 
home.  In  a  few  moments  William  Williams,  aged 
fourteen,  felt  thoroughly  ashamed  of  himself.  His 
best  clothes  and  his  clean  collar  became  garments  of 
shame.  He  was  willing  to  follow  David  anywhere. 

1  Implying  a  belief  in  Infant  Baptism,  "Confirmation"  is  regarded 
as  inconsistent  with  the  creed  of  the  Baptists. 


30 

The  two  boys  managed  to  get  out  into  the  school- 
yard; and  there,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  they  were 
over  the  wall.  They  hid  behind  the  hedge.  In  a  few 
moments  out  came  the  schoolmaster,  hurried  and  eager ; 
he  could  see  no  one  in  sight.  He  blew  his  whistle  once, 
twice,  and  yet  again.  There  was  no  reply.  Time 
pressed.  The  Bishop  could  not  be  kept  waiting.  There 
was  nothing  for  it  but  to  go  back  and  fetch  the  others. 

So  David  and  William  Williams  stood  and  watched 
while  the  little  procession  of  children,  with  their  nicely 
washed  faces,  walked  across  the  school-yard  to  the 
church. 

Then,  when  all  had  passed  by,  out  came  the  two 
rebels.  Without  a  pause  they  jumped  over  the  wall, 
leapt  into  the  road,  and  made  for  Richard  Lloyd's 
workshop.  Instantly,  when  he  had  heard  their  story, 
the  bootmaker  dropped  his  last  and  patted  the  boys  on 
the  back.  "Well  done,  my  boys!"  he  cried;  "well 
done!" 

I  will  suggest  to  any  Anglican  reader  that  he  should, 
for  the  moment,  try  to  look  at  the  situation  from  the 
point  of  view  of  his  Nonconformist  neighbour.  Sup- 
pose that  he,  an  Anglican  parent,  were  obliged  by  law 
to  send  his  boy  to  a  Baptist  School  because  no  other 
school  existed  in  his  village.  Suppose  then  that  the 
Baptist  minister  took  advantage  of  this  situation  to 
baptize  the  boy  up  to  the  neck  in  the  village  stream. 
What  would  the  Anglican  parent  do?  Why,  probably 
something  much  more  violent  than  either  uncle  Lloyd 
or  nephew  David. 

Yet  the  spirit  of  rebellion  is  rare,  and  the  act  is 
slow.  Doubtless  there  were  other  boys  in  that  school 
whose  hearts  waxed  hot  within  them,  and  other  parents 


SCHOOL  DAYS  31 

whose  blood  boiled.  But  they  did  nothing.  Where 
David  Lloyd  George  differed  from  the  other  boys,  and 
his  uncle  from  the  other  parents  and  guardians,  was 
just  here — that  they  acted  while  the  others  merely 
raged.  That  is  the  startling  difference. 

They  possessed  that  particular  quality  which  ex- 
plodes in  deeds.  There  it  was  already — this  care 
thing  called  courage,  which  was,  in  process  of  time, 
to  become  the  driving-wheel  of  the  whole  machine. 

It  is  not  to  be  thought  that  a  boy  thus  endowed  was 
to  prove  a  pattern  boy  in  all  directions.  David  was 
sound  enough  at  heart;  but  he  was  certainly  not  a  saint. 
He  was  not  born  with  a  halo  round  his  curly  head.  In 
that  little  village  he  was  often  the  leader  of  enterprises 
of  pith  and  moment.  He  was  not  without  suspicions 
of  piracy.  "It's  that  David  Lloyd  George,"  was  the 
sure  comment  of  the  village  mother  when  she  found  her 
fences  down.  Wherever  those  two  ribbons  were  seen 
flying  in  the  wfnd,  you  might  be  sure  that  the  other 
boys  were  not  far  behind.  You  would  scent  mischief 
in  the  tainted  breeze.  There  was  indeed  much  to  be 
done.  There  were  fish  to  be  caught;  rabbits  to  be 
snared;  dogs  to  be  trained.  There  was  even — alas! — 
at  one  time  a  privy  "cache"  in  the  woods  where  pipes 
and  tobacco  were  stored  to  be  fearfully  tested  on  uncer- 
tain stomachs. 

No,  certainly  David  was.no  model  of  the  boyish 
proprieties;  no  candidate  for  a  stucco  niche.  He  was 
already  a  Robin  Hood  of  the  woods,  an  adventurer  of 
that  winding,  brawling  stream.  He  led  others  into 
the  adventures  with  him ;  for  he  was  already  gregarious 
to  the  finger-tips.  He  would  draw  along  with  him  his 


82  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

more  cautious  brother;  and,  somehow,  it  always  seemed 
to  be  the  brother  who  bore  the  weight  of  the  trouble 
that  followed. 

Not  that  David  ever  shirked  the  penalties  of  his 
youthful  sins.  He  was  ever  ready  to  "face  the  music." 
He  would  bravely  stand  before  his  uncle  in  his  sterner 
moods;  and  many  an  explosive  of  argument  and  re- 
proof had  to  be  expended  on  his  well-entrenched  de- 
fences. 

Not  that  his  uncle  ever  took  up  that  relentless  atti- 
tude which  drives  so  many  children  faster  on  the  down- 
ward path.  He  remembered  the  text — "Whom  He 
loveth  He  chasteneth,"  or,  as  it  has  been  rewritten, 
"lick  'im  and  love  'im."  But  Richard  Lloyd  never  let 
the  stripes  blot  out  the  love.  He  always  believed  in 
this  boy  David.  That  was  the  real  secret  of  the  uncle's 
influence.  Beneath  the  rough,  dusty  ore  he  already 
saw  the  gleaming  gold. 

There  were  indeed  some  rare  features  about  this 
boy's  character.  His  early  companions  testify  to  some 
features  that  still  shine  in  memory.  "He  was  the  most 
kind-hearted  boy  I  ever  met,"  said  one  who  was  an 
inseparable.  "If  he  ever  got  a  penny  he  would  buy 
his  sweets,  and  then  divide  up  the  whole  among  the 
other  boys."  He  was  very  fond  of  animals — a  glori- 
ous virtue  in  the  young.  There  was  always  a  dog  in 
his  train — and  a  dog,  being  ever  young,  loves  youth 
and  mischief.  Then  David  was  ever  full  of  pity  for 
the  weak.  Pity  and  audacity  met  in  his  nature.  They 
made  him  at  school,  as  in  after-life,  a  terror  to  the 
bully  and  a  trial  to  the  boaster. 

His  youthful  companions  cannot  remember  that  he 
was  notably  ambitious.  But  he  was  from  early  days  a 


SCHOOL  DAYS  33 

lover  of  books;  and  that  often  held  in  leash  his  pas- 
sion for  adventure.  He  rarely,  for  instance,  played 
truant  from  school.  There  is  one  historic  dawn,  still 
standing  out  in  red  letters  in  the  memory  of  his  friends. 
On  that  morning  the  school-bell  sounded  to  deaf  ears; 
all  that  day  those  spirits  from  prison  scampered  by 
the  river-side  testing  a  new  dog.1  The  deed  was  never 
repeated.  That  day  of  glowing  delight  was  probably 
burnt  into  his  memory  by  one  of  those  reprimands 
from  an  uncle  whose  words  cut  deeper  than  another's 
whips. 

There  is,  indeed,  an  epic  story  of  a  holiday  hunt  of 
a  hare  down  in  the  Aberkin  farm  between  the  village 
and  the  sea.  The  boys  followed  the  dogs  and  the  dogs 
went  through  the  river,  but  an  old  ganger  on  the  rail- 
way refused  to  allow  the  boys  to  cross  the  bridge.  But 
David  was  not  to  be  daunted.  "Come  on,  boys!"  he 
cried ;  and  straight  through  the  river  he  went  almost  up 
to  his  shoulders ! 

As  the  years  went  on  he  became  more  serious.  He 
conceived  the  idea  of  going  to  see  the  world.  He  spent 
weeks  with  maps  and  made  a  plan  of  a  journey.  Boys 
will  do  such  things,  and  the  difficulty  generally  comes 
when  the  tickets  have  to  be  bought.  That  was  where 
David  Lloyd  George's  plan  broke  down.  But 'if  he 
could  not  wander  in  the  body,  he  could  at  any  rate 
travel  in  the  spirit.  He  read  more  and  more  as  the 
years  went  on.  After  twelve,  remaining  on  at  school 
after  his  friends,  he  became  rather  a  lonely  boy.  At 
that  time  he  woulcl  often  go  off  with  a  book  into  the 
woods;  and  he  acquired  the  habit  of  climbing  a  tree 

1  "Bismarck" — a  dog  snatched  from  the  streets  of  Hamburg  and 
brought  home  by  a  sailor  from  the  village — a  bold  and  unscrupulous 
poacher. 


34  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

and  there  reading  for  hours  in  some  kindly  fork  of 
the  branches  far  away  from  his  romping  friends. 

There,  alone  in  the  woods,  his  mind  formed;  and  the 
shadowy  whims  of  youth — perhaps  influenced,  like 
Wordsworth's,  by  the  surrounding  mountains  and  sea 
— steeled  into  firmer  stuff.  When  he  was  a  very  small 
boy  he  would  say,  boy-like,  to  his  uncle,  "I  am  going 
to  be  a  giant,  like  that  tree."  This  infantile  yearning 
after  something  larger  than  his  natal  fate  seemed  to 
grow  upon  him.  A  sense  of  power  seemed  to  be  work- 
ing within  him.  Strange,  when  you  consider  the  cramp- 
ing conditions  of  his  life.  Here  was  a  boy  living  in  a 
little  cottage  in  a  remote  Welsh  village;  talking  a  de- 
spised language;  an  obscure  member  of  a  race  scoffed 
at  by  the  powerful  of  this  earth.  He  had  already  pro- 
claimed himself  faithful  to  a  religion  contemned  by 
all  who  wished  to  rise  in  life.  He  was  surrounded  by 
a  peasantry  long  trained  to  humility;  living  in  houses 
that  belonged  to  others;  with  few  rights  in  their  own 
land — excluded  from  their  own  woods  and  fields  by 
laws  of  trespass,  and  menaced  with  dire  penalties  if 
they  killed  the  wild  animals  of  their  own  land.  He 
found  himself  born  with  little  freedom  beyond  the  lib- 
erty of  the  village  street.  There  were  few  adventures 
for  him  that  were  not  crimes  in  the  eye  of  the  law. 
In  such  a  life  there  seemed  enough  to  quell  any  grow- 
ing spirit  and  to  crush  any  latent  ambition.  For  in 
those  days  the  social  power  of  the  Welsh  squires  was 
still  scarcely  challenged;  their  claims  shadowed  all  the 
large  spaces  in  the  world  around  him. 

Yet  this  boy  began  to  look  at  all  this  with  candid, 
unprejudiced  eyes.  He  began  to  grasp  the  fact  that 
what  was  required  was  daring,  and  still  daring. 


SCHOOL  DAYS  35 

In  this  vision  he  was  by  no  means  alone.  It  was 
a  perception  dimly  stirring  in  the  minds  of  all  those 
multitudes  of  youth  who  were  then,  during  those  years, 
the  first  to  pass  through  the  new  schools  of  the  nation 
and  to  win  the  franchise  of  the  mind.  Again,  where 
he  was  alone  was  in  the  courage  to  pursue  this  vision — 
the  courage  to  act  as  well  as  to  see. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  (1877)  it  became  necessary 
to  choose  a  life-calling  for  David  Lloyd  George.  The 
village  National  School  had  finished  its  work  for  the 
boy.  The  extra  two  years'  schooling  had  brought  him 
as  far  as  that  training  could  take  him. 

Richard  Lloyd  was  not  indeed  compelled  by  any  law, 
human  or  divine,  to  carry  the  boy's  education  any  fur- 
ther. He  would  certainly  have  achieved  as  much  as 
most  men  consider  due  to  a  sister's  child  if  he  had  now 
taken  David  from  school  and  apprenticed  him  to  his 
own  honourable  handicraft  of  boot-making. 

But  Uncle  Lloyd  knew  only  too  well  the  carking 
cares  of  a  workman's  life.  He  knew  what  it  was  to 
feel  a  mind-hunger  which  cannot  be  sated.  Those  who 
saw  much  of  the  preacher-bootmaker  in  those  days  tell 
how  eager  he  was  for  books — how  in  this  eagerness  he 
struck  up  a  very  admirable  friendship  with  the  kindly 
village  curate ;  how,  after  his  long  day's  work,  he  would 
read  half  through  the  night,  and  how  the  village  doc- 
tor, going  on  some  errand  of  midnight  or  dawn,  would 
still  see  the  light  of  his  candle  shining  through  his  bed- 
room window. 

Such  a  life  is  often  filled  with  an  aching  regret.  The 
hardly  tasked  body  yearns  for  a  fuller  freedom — the 


86  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

freedom  to  follow,  undisturbed,  the  clear  call  of  the 
mind. 

It  was  such  a  life  that  he  dreamed  of  for  his  boys 
when  he  decided  to  send  them,  at  all  costs,  into  one  of 
those  learned  professions  which  Britons  hold  in  so 
much  honour.  His  eager  aim  was  to  free  them,  at 
any  sacrifice,  from  the  great  burden  of  manual  drudg- 
ery. 

That  being  decided,  it  was  not  so  easy  to  make  a 
choice  between  the  professions.  Richard  Lloyd  was 
not  one  of  those  men  who  think  it  a  sign  of  strength  to 
force  children  into  careers  against  their  own  will. 
Above  all,  he  wished  to  have  the  following  wind  of 
their  free  consent  and  help. 

The  "ministry"  was  practically  closed  to  them  by 
that  rule  of  their  uncle's  Church  which  forbade  Chris- 
tian service  as  a  means  of  livelihood.  The  Established 
Church,  indeed,  was  an  open  road  for  them;  there 
"Welcome !"  was  written  over  the  door  for  every  clever 
Welsh  village  boy.  If  David  had  consented  to  follow 
the  lead  of  some  of  his  village  friends,  who  can  say 
that  he  might  not  have  ended  as  an  Archbishop?  The 
thought  never  took  serious  shape  at  Highgate  Cottage. 
I  scarcely  dare  to  think  of  what  would  have  been  said 
in  the  village  "smithy"  or  the  uncle's  workshop  if  David 
had  turned  his  steps  towards  that  primrose  path — as 
both  he  and  his  brother  were  more  than  once  invited 
to  do. 

Richard  Lloyd's  own  desire  was  that  David  should 
be  a  doctor.  But  the  lad  had  an  instinctive,  physical 
shrinking  from  disease  and  death.  Richard  Lloyd,  be- 
ing a  wise  man,  sorrowfully  agreed  that  David's  tern- 


SCHOOL  DAYS  37 

perament  was  unfitted  for  the  hospital  ward  and  the 
sick-room. 

His  mother,  Mrs.  William  George,  pondering  the 
future  in  her  heart,  and  watching  the  boy  with  a  fond 
mother's  eyes,  desired  him  to  be  a  lawyer. 

The  mother  won. 

In  those  old  days  when  Mrs.  William  George  was 
in  the  depths  of  sorrow  and  distress,  through  the  long 
agony  of  her  husband's  illness,  she  had  received  much 
help  and  kindness  from  an  old  friend  of  her  husband's, 
one  of  those  tender-hearted  family  lawyers  who  are  the 
crown  and  salvation  of  their  profession — Mr.  Thomas 
Goffey  of  Liverpool.  The  boys  had  heard  much  of 
this  man  at  an  impressionable  age;  and  the  effect  left 
on  David  was  a  great  desire  to  go  and  do  likewise.  "To 
be  a  lawyer  like  Mr.  Goffey!"  That  was  the  shining 
quest  before  him. 

At  this  critical  moment  the  memory  of  this  helper 
acted  as  a  magnet  to  them  all;  and  it  was  this  lode- 
stone  that  drew  on  first  David,  and  then  his  brother 
William. 

In  such  pleasant  guise  did  that  useful  calling  present 
itself;  in  such  Christian  fashion  came  to  the  youth  this 
summons.  The  lawyer's  gown  appeared  to  him  as  the 
robe  of  the  Samaritan. 

So  far,  so  good.  But  the  career  of  the  law  requires 
a  long  apprenticeship;  and  apprenticeship  means 
money.  The  examination  fees  alone  for  a  solicitor 
amount  to  a  good  sum,  and  there  was  a  substantial 
premium  on  apprenticeship  to  a  good  firm  to  be  paid 
in  addition.  Then  there  would  be  over  five  years 
without  earnings.  Where  would  they  obtain  the  re- 
sources to  face  the  strain? 


38  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

At  this  point  Richard  Lloyd  turned  to  the  pooled 
family  savings  of  himself  and  his  sister,  Mrs.  William 
George,  and  dipped  deep.  Little  was  left  when  suf- 
ficient for  this  purpose  had  been  drawn,  and  even  so 
the  supply  was  precariously  meagre.  Could  they  find 
enough  to  start  the  two  boys  on  their  careers? 

If  was  clear,  on  a  survey,  that  they  could  not  send 
the  boys  either  to  a  higher  school  or  to  a  University. 
How,  then,  were  they  to  acquire  that  considerable  store 
of  general  knowledge  required  of  the  legal  appren- 
tice? 

David  had  done  well  under  Evans's  faithful  tuition. 
He  had  advanced  into  the  higher  mathematics;  he  had 
read  a  certain  amount  of  history;  he  had  now  mastered 
the  elements  of  French  and  Latin. 

But  much  more  was  required  if  he  was  to  pass  that 
first  obstruction  in  the  great  obstacle  race  set  before  the 
novice  in  the  law — the  Preliminary  Examination.  He 
must,  for  instance,  know  more  French.  He  must  read 
Caesar  and  Sallust.  The  village  dominie  could  not  carry 
David  as  far  as  that. 

Here  seemed  a  formidable  gulf  to  bridge.  Less 
formidable  barriers  have  closed  careers  to  others  and 
driven  them  back  into  the  workshop. 

But  human  love  can  leap  over  great  obstacles;  and 
Richard  Lloyd  was  no  ordinary  man.  He  knew  neither 
French  nor  Latin.  Very  well,  he  would  set  out  to  learn 
them. 

So  together  the  uncle  and  the  nephew  started  into 
the  unexplored.  Hand  in  hand,  they  tackled  the  Latin 
and  the  French  grammars,  and  thumbed  the  diction- 
aries. For  this  great-hearted  man  knew  that  if  both 
be  ignorant  of  the  way  it  is  better  to  go  together. 


SCHOOL  DAYS  39 

Company  gives  courage.  So  in  the  dark  winter  even- 
ings, with  the  light  of  a  candle,  they  together  spelt  out 
the  sentences  of  Caesar  and  Sallust  and  laboriously  read 
JEsop  in  French.  I  will  warrant  that  those  lessons  in 
Latin  and  French  were  not  wasted.  I  even  doubt  some- 
times whether  the  class-rooms  of  Eton  or  Harrow,  with 
their  picked  teachers,  can  show  anything  so  inspiring  as 
this  little  village  study — the  uncle  and  nephew  strug- 
gling along  that  unknown  path,  lit  only  by  zeal  and  af- 
fection. May  it  not  be,  perhaps,  that  the  accident  of 
this  laborious  schooling  gave  a  special  nourishment  to 
the  boy's  instinct  of  self-confidence,  proved  more  po- 
tent than  the  spoon-feeding  of  some  well-endowed  col- 
lege? 

At  any  rate,  this  common  struggle  for  knowledge 
gave  the  uncle  a  new  insight  into  his  nephew's  powers. 
From  this  time  onward  the  boy  became  his  very  spe- 
cial "Di" — the  darling  of  his  heart — the  apple  of  his 
eye.  He  began  to  perceive  that  there  were  few  things 
impossible  for  this  boy  to  achieve. 

At  last  this  astonishing  experiment  in  coaching  came 
to  an  end.  But  his  uncle  was  determined  to  stand  by 
the  nephew  to  the  end  in  the  first  great  trial  of  his 
life. 

In  December,  1877,  he  accompanied  him  to  Liver- 
pool, where  the  examination  was  to  take  place.  Every 
morning — as  he  often  told  in  later  life — Richard  Lloyd 
accompanied  the  youth  to  the  examination  room  in  St. 
George's  Hall ;  and  every  evening,  after  the  day's  work, 
he  met  him  on  the  steps  of  the  hall  and  went  home  with 
him. 

The  examination  lasted  a  week.  Suspense  was  fol- 
lowed by  triumph.  David  passed. 


40  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

The  young  hopeful  who  had  set  out  from  Llanystum- 
dwy  with  the  good  wishes  and  fervent  prayers  of 
friends  and  neighbours,  returned  on  December  8th  with 
the  first  flush  of  achievement  on  his  cheek. 

Nowhere  was  there  a  happier  Christmas  in  that 
year  of  1877  than  at  "Highgate." 

There  was  only  one  man  as  happy  as  the  uncle 
and  the  mother — and  that  was  the  village  schoolmas- 
ter. It  was  a  proud  day  when  he  could  solemnly  record 
the  fact  of  David's  passing  in  the  Log  Book  of  the 
Llanystumdwy  National  School. 


CHAPTER  III 

YOUTH 

"Who,  with  a  natural  instinct  to  discern 
What  knowledge  can  perform,  is  diligent  to  learn;" 

WORDSWORTH'S  The  Happy  Warrior, 

PORTMADOC  is  a  little  provincial  business  town  lying 
on  the  coast  some  five  miles  to  the  west  of  Criccieth  in 
the  very  heart  of  Cardigan  Bay.  It  stands  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Glaslyn,  one  of  those  little  mountain 
rivers  which  flow  southward  through  wild  valleys  from 
the  Snowdon  range.  The  river  broadens  to  a  port 
at  its  mouth  and  the  town  spreads  on  both  banks.  A 
hundred  years  ago  the  land  here  was  below  high-water 
mark.  It  was  redeemed  by  an  enterprising  man  who 
has  given  his  name  to  the  town  and  the  estate.1  The 
old  high-water  mark  can  be  seen  far  up  the  valley, 
and  it  is  an  actual  fact  that  every  building  in  Portmadoc 
itself  stands  on  land  snatched  from  the  sea. 

Here  in  Portmadoc,  just  east  of  the  Town  Hall, 
stood  the  office  of  Messrs.  Breese,  Jones,  and  Casson, 
the  firm  to  which  David  Lloyd  George  was  articled 
after  he  had  passed  his  Preliminary  Law  Examination. 
There  the  square-built,  airy  chambers  still  stand. 
Here,  in  this  building,  young  David  Lloyd  George, 
aged  sixteen,  took  his  seat  at  the  window  on  one  of 

1  Mr.  A.  Maddocks.    One  of  the  men  who  was  interested  in  this  pro- 
ject was  the  poet  Shelley. 

41 


42  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

those  high  stools  where  the  clerks  of  to-day  still  sit;  and 
doubtless  the  young  David's  eyes  sometimes  glanced 
anxiously  at  the  same  old  clock  that  still  measures  out 
the  limits  of  work  and  play.  The  preliminaries  of  this 
articling  took  some  time;  but  within  six  months — at 
the  opening  of  1879 — David  had  been  fully  articled 
by  his  uncle  as  clerk  to  Mr.  Casson,  the  junior  partner. 

Portmadoc  itself  stands  in  prim  straight  rows  of 
slate-roofed  houses  built  at  right-angles  to  the  long 
main  street.  The  great  thing  about  the  town  is  that 
from  every  corner  of  its  streets  you  can  see  the  mighty 
mountains  of  Snowdon  on  the  horizon.  It  was  still 
under  those  Eagle  Rocks  that  David's  life-work  was 
to  be  carried  on  for  the  next  few  years. 

It  was  no  longer  possible  for  him  to  live  in  the  little 
cottage  at  Llanystumdwy,  which  was  over  seven  miles 
from  Portmadoc  and  two  miles  from  Criccieth  railway- 
station. 

So  it  was  arranged  that  the  lad  should  spend  the 
week  at  Portmadoc  and  go  back  to  his  uncle's  home 
at  week-ends. 

During  the  week  he  lodged  with  some  good  people 
whose  children  had  gone  out  into  the  world  1  and  who 
looked  after  him  for  several  years  as  if  he  had  been 
their  own  child.  Like  many  another  young  Welsh- 
man he  was  also  taken  into  the  kindly  fraternity  of 
the  chapel  folk,  who  looked  after  him  on  behalf  of 
his  uncle.  He  soon  began  to  find  friends.  On  Wednes- 
days he  would  attend  the  little  chapel;  and  he  was 
especially  fond  of  frequenting  the  little  candle-making 
workshop  behind  the  main  street,  where  the  workmen 

1Mr.    and   Mrs.    D.    Lloyd   Owen,   Auctioneer,    High    Street,   Port- 
madoc. 


YOUTH  43 

can  still  be  seen  ingeniously  contriving  the  special 
illuminant  candles  for  the  slate  quarries  of  North 
Wales.  There,  as  in  the  smithy  at  Llanystumdwy,  he 
found  much  congenial  company  for  discussion  and 
debate;  for  it  was  a  significant  fact  that  in  youth  David 
Lloyd  George  was  always  drawn  to  the  places  where 
men  assemble  and  discuss  their  affairs. 

Here  was  a  youth  at  the  age  of  sixteen  taken  out  of 
his  village  and  thrown  into  the  larger  turmoil  of  the 
world's  affairs.  The  solicitors'  firm  to  which  he  was 
articled  was  an  important  legal  centre  in  Carnarvon- 
shire. The  solicitors  were  Clerks  to  the  Petty  Ses- 
sional Division,  and  Mr.  Breese  was  also  Clerk  to 
the  Lieutenant  of  the  County,  besides  being  the  Liberal 
agent  for  Merionethshire.  Finding  that  the  youth  was 
handy  and  smart,  they  soon  began  to  use  him  as  deputy 
in  their  various  functions.  So  David  found  himself 
immersed  into  all  the  affairs  of  a  great  county,  besides 
being  in  constant  touch  with  the  stirring  life  of  a  little 
port.  The  ships  and  sailors  were  ever  coming  and 
going,  and  all  the  murmur  of  larger  interests  flowed 
in  from  outside.  There,  in  that  little  corner  of  Wales, 
they  could  constantly  hear  "the  great  wave  which 
echoes  round  the  world." 

From  the  vantage-post  of  his  firm  the  boy  could 
gradually  gain  an  insight  into  the  whole  machinery  of 
county  administration. 

In  law,  as  in  journalism,  provincial  experience  is  a 
far  better  school  for  a  young  man  than  that  of  Lon- 
don; for  in  the  provinces  work  is  less  specialised,  and 
the  young  clerk  in  a  busy  lawyer's  office  has  a  chance 
of  such  varied  work  as  his  powers  show  him  capable  of. 
David  Lloyd  George,  for  instance,  now  found  himself 


44  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

often  called  upon  to  undertake  responsible  tasks;  to 
watch  the  interests  of  his  firm  in  the  Police  Court  or 
in  the  Quarter  Session;  to  collect  rates  and  taxes; 
to  find  his  way  through  that  complicated  network  of 
wire  entanglements  which  British  wisdom  had  thrown 
around  the  exercise  of  the  suffrage.  The  canvassing 
work  which  he  did  for  his  firm  in  their  capacity  as 
Liberal  agents  stood  him  in  very  good  stead  later  on 
which  he  had  to  do  the  same  work  for  himself.  It 
was  during  this  period  that  he  acquired,  too,  that 
intimate  mastery  of  the  details  of  rural  rating  with 
which  he  afterwards  astonished  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. During  the  same  years  he  achieved  an  insight 
into  the  surprising  affairs  of  many  county  families. 
There  is  no  surer  way  of  finding  out  the  secrets  of  the 
English  land  system  than'  to  look  at  them  through  the 
peep-holes  of  a  good  lawyer's  office. 

No  doubt  the  young  Lloyd  George  lost  much  by 
being  plunged  so  early  in  life  into  the  urgencies  of  prac- 
tical work.  But  he  also  gained.  For  it  would  have 
been  difficult  to  devise  a  training  more  suitable  for  a 
coming  statesman. 

For  a  time  the  young  man  was  absorbed  by  his  new 
work;  and,  indeed,  it  was  enough  to  take  up  his  energy. 
David  Lloyd  George  was  from  the  beginning  a  keen 
lawyer.  He  was  not  content  with  practical  experience; 
he  read  hard  at  the  law;  but  in  his  case  law  did  not 
take  form  in  his  mind  as  a  fixed  dead  thing,  but  as  a 
vital  function  of  growth,  with  possibilities  of  perpetual 
change  and  reform. 

Thus  his  apprenticeship  began  to  feed  and  stimulate 
his  instinctive  interest  in  public  affairs.  His  daily  ex- 
perience led  him  back  at  every  turn  into  larger  public 


YOUTH  45 

interests  and  speculations.  He  had  his  week  evenings 
free;  and  so  gradually  among  the  young  men  of  Port- 
madoc  he  was  led  into  that  life  of  debate  which  has 
always  been  his  very  life-blood. 

In  1880  his  uncle,  his  mother,  his  brother,  and  his 
sister  gave  up  the  little  cottage  at  Llanystumdwy  and 
moved  to  "Morvin  House"  in  Criccieth.  Richard 
Lloyd  and  Mrs.  William  George,  their  mother,  had 
now  saved  enough  to  enable  Uncle  Lloyd  to  give  up 
the  bootmaking;  and  his  interest  was  now  so  much 
centred  round  David  that  he  decided  to  make  a  move 
that  would  enable  the  youth  to  live  at  home.  The 
little  house  where  David  was  to  live  for  the  next 
ten  years  was  just  beneath  the  walls  of  that  shattered 
Norman  castle  which  crowns  a  precipitous  cliff  on  the 
very  edge  of  the  sea.  Now  battered  and  worn  by  the 
assaults  of  man  and  the  ravages  of  the  ocean,  that 
castle  was  once  a  strong  link  in  that  scheme  of  block- 
house fortresses  which  the  Normans  built  to  keep  down 
North  Wales.  The  ruins  typify  to-day  the  valour  of 
this  land  of  bards,  and  prove  the  power  of  a  little 
nation  over  a  mighty  conqueror.  At  its  strongest,  the 
rule  of  the  Normans  extended  very  few  feet  beyond 
those  castle  walls.  Now  this  fortress  is  in  ruins;  and 
all  around  the  very  portals  of  that  ancient  blockhouse 
you  will  hear  few  words  of  any  language  except  the 
very  tongue  which  the  Normans  tried  to  ban  and  to 
bar.1 

1  After  writing  this  I  came  across  the  following  passage  in  a  speech 
of  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  made  in  the  House  of  Commons:  "Two  thou- 
sand yearrs  ago  the  great  Empire  of  Rome  came  with  its  battalions 
and  conquered  that  part  of  Carnarvonshire  in  which  my  constituency 
is  situated.  They  built  walls  and  fortifications  as  the  tokens  of  their 
conquest,  and  they  proscribed  the  use  of  the  Cymric  tongue.  The  other 
day  I  was  glancing  at  the  ruins  of  those  walls.  Underneath  I  noted 


46  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

To  this  house  David  Lloyd  George  now  came  home 
every  evening  and  he  was  able  to  give  up  his  kindly 
lodgings  in  Portmadoc.  This  return  to  the  strongest 
influence  in  his  youth  perhaps  explains  a  certain  deep- 
ening of  purpose  which  now  becomes  visible  in  his 
diaries  x;  but  there  emerges  also  a  new  independence  of 
spirit.  Somewhat  to  the  alarm  of  the  uncle,  the  youth 
was  beginning  to  exhibit  a  rambling  interest  that  went 
far  outside  that  still  lagoon  of  puritanism  which  was 
the  home  of  that  high,  simple  spirit.  There  was 
already  a  touch  of  that  defiant  self-confidence  which 
has  so  often  since  puzzled  and  troubled  both  the  fol- 
lowers and  the  counsellors  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George.  The 
young  man  was  reading  widely  and  daringly — not 
merely  sermons,  but  plays,  histories,  and  novels.  He 
was  going  through  crises  of  spiritual  doubt  unknown 
to  the  securely  anchored  soul  of  his  foster-father.  He 
was  catching  the  malady  of  his  age,  and  finding  its 
remedy,  as  so  many  others  of  that  time  found  it,  in 
the  vague  anodyne  of  books  like  Carlyle's  Sartor 
Resartus. 

His  growing  spirit  was  finding  outlets  in  every  di- 
rection. He  was  attending  political  meetings  and  lis- 
tening eagerly  and  critically  to  such  gospel  as  his 
elders  preached.  He  had  begun  writing  regularly  for 
the  newspapers;  and  over  the  challenging  name  of 
"Brutus,"  the  North  Wales  Express  was  producing  a 

the  children  at  play,  and  I  could  hear  them  speaking,  with  undimin- 
ished  force  and  vigour,  the  proscribed  language  of  the  conquered 
nation.  Close  by,  there  was  a  school  where  the  language  of  the 
Roman  conquerors  was  being  taught,  but  taught  as  a  dead  language." 
1  These  diaries  are  very  fully  published  in  Herbert  Du  Parcq's  ex- 
cellent Life  of  David  Lloyd  George,  London ;  Caxton  Publishing  Com- 
pany Limited,  1912. 


YOUTH  47 

series  of  articles,1  vigorous  and  combative — a  little 
young  and  flamboyant,  but  always  arresting  and  stimu- 
lating to  the  audience  of  young  Wales. 

Already  in  the  1880  Election  those  articles,  written 
by  a  boy  not  yet  18  years  of  age,  played  no  insignificant 
part  in  North  Wales :  and  now  the  people  of  Carnar- 
vonshire were  beginning  to  ask  of  the  young  David,  as 
in  the  old  days  another  people  asked  of  a  greater  proph- 
et— "Who  art  thou?  What  sayest  thou  of  thyself?" 

To  these  questions  the  daring  youth  soon  began 
to  give  an  answer  with  both  speech  and  action.  In 
1 88 1,  the  third  year  of  his  apprenticeship,  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  one  of  those  little  centres  of 
intellectual  energy  which  were  growing  up  all  over 
Wales  in  the  dawn  of  this  new  time.  The  Portmadoc 
Debating  Society  may  have  meant  little  to  the  world; 
but  it  meant  a  great  deal  to  itself  and  to  the  town 
of  Portmadoc.  This  little  assembly  met  weekly  in  a 
room  over  a  shop  in  the  Portmadoc  High  Street. 
There  came  together  an  eager  throng  of  young  Welsh- 
men determined  to  discuss  for  themselves  all  the  prob- 
lems of  the  day.  Their  debates  covered  every  great 
question  of  the  eighties.  David  Lloyd  George,  now 
eighteen  years  of  age,  did  not  intend  to  be  a  silent 
member.  He  soon  began  to  speak  often.  He  took 
part  in  debates  on  all  the  great  problems  that  occupied 
his  later  life — Franchise  and  Free  Trade,  Trade 
Unionism  and  Irish  Land,  even  the  Channel  Tunnel. 
On  all  these  subjects  he  expressed  bold  and  progressive 
opinions,  and  in  this  little  school  he  began  to  train  his 
power  of  speech. 

*A  large  selection  of  these  articles  can  be  read  in  the  pages  of 
Mr.  Du  Parcq. 


48  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Such  a  passion  for  debate  is  a  common  disease  of 
youth,  and  often  passes  like  a  fitful  fever.  But  with 
the  young  Lloyd  George  it  was  not  to  be  so.  It  was 
soon  clear  that  the  power  of  speech  was  with  him  a 
very  special  gift,  and  he  threw  into  it  a  great  deal  of 
care  and  industry.  Men  at  Portmadoc  will  still  de- 
scribe how  he  could  be  seen  walking  along  the  high- 
road gesticulating  as  he  practised  his  speeches;  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  at  this  moment  of  his  life  he 
already  had  some  dim  perception  that  he  possessed  the 
magic  gift  of  oratory. 

There  are  those  in  Portmadoc  to-day  who  can  still 
remember  some  of  these  youthful  orations,  and  espe- 
cially remember  the  wonderful  speech  which  he  made 
in  1 88 1  on  the  Egyptian  crisis  of  that  year.  At  that 
moment  conflicting  opinions  swirled  round  the  figure  of 
Arabi  Pasha — the  Egyptian  Nationalist  leader.  Was 
he  a  hero  or  a  villain?  History  has  not  even  yet  quite 
decided.1  But  the  young  Lloyd  George  was  in  no 
doubt.  He  saw  in  Arabi  a  hero  of  romance  rightly 
struggling  for  the  freedom  of  a  small  nation.  The 
impassioned  speech  in  which  he  defended  Arabi  gained 
for  him  the  first  attentions  of  the  Welsh  press.  It 
revealed  to  his  hearers  that  deep  enthusiasm  for  free- 
dom among  the  little  nations  which  afterwards  became 
his  leading  public  characteristic.  Men  who  heard  the 
speech  still  speak  of  it  as  a  remarkable  event  in  Port- 
madoc. 

At  that  time  young  Lloyd  George  was  slim  of  body 
and  pale  of  face;  the  portraits  that  exist  possess  none 
of  that  twinkling  gaiety  which  came  to  him  in  later 

1  Lord    Cromer   always   called   him    an    adventurer.     Mr.   Wilfrid 
Blunt  has  always  regarded  him  as  a  great  patriot. 


"UNCLE  LLOYD":  MR.  RICHABD  LLOYD,  THE  UNCLE 
OF  DAVID  LLOYD  GEOHGE. 


YOUTH  49 

years.  Youth  with  him,  as  with  many,  seemed  to  be 
the  gravest  period  of  his  life;  and  indeed  it  happened 
that  very  heavy  tasks  were  laid  upon  these  young 
Welshmen  at  the  opening  of  their  lives. 

For  these  were  perilous  years  in  Wales.  The  power 
of  the  old  order  had  been  shaken,  but  not  shattered. 
The  constituencies  indeed  could  no  longer  be  divided 
up  by  the  squires  at  a  private  meeting  in  Carnarvon; 
it  was  not  quite  so  easy  now  to  woo  a  seat  through  a 
Welsh  interpreter.  The  General  Election  of  1868 
had  revealed  the  power  of  the  new  order;  but  the  day 
of  Welsh  Nationalism  was  still  to  come.  The  older 
men  stood  aloof;  there  was  much  of  the  old  cringing 
humility  still  left  in  the  social  life.  The  squires  had 
punished  the  Welsh  farmers  of  Carnarvonshire  for 
their  votes  in  1868  by  ruthless,  widespread  evictions, 
and  a  certain  fear  had  been  spread  through  the  county. 
It  was  clear  to  the  young  Lloyd  George  that  this  fear 
could  only  be  destroyed  by  a  new  dose  of  daring  and 
defiance.  Thus  beneath  the  shadow  of  Snowdon  the 
new  spirit  of  young  Wales  was  working  up  to  a  storm. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  if  his  debating  achieve- 
ments caused  in  the  mind  of  this  eager  young  man 
certain  stirrings  of  ambition  that  began  to  belie  the 
opinion  of  his  old  schoolmates.  In  November,  1881,  he 
visited  London  for  the  first  time :  and,  like  most  young 
men  with  kindly  London  friends,  he  was  taken  to  see 
the  House  of  Commons.  At  this  time  he  was  keeping 
a  fairly  full  diary;  and  the  entry  of  this  date  (Novem- 
ber 1 2th)  is  rather  remarkable  in  view  of  subsequent 
events : 

"I  will  not  say  but  that  I  eyed  the  assembly  in 
a  spirit  similar  to  that  in  which  William  the  Con- 


50  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

queror  eyed  England  on  his  visit  to  Edward  the 
Confessor,  as  the  region  of  his  future  domain. 
Oh,  vanity!" 

Perhaps  it  is  scarcely  fair  to  intrude  on  such  self- 
communings  of  early  aspiring  adolescence — easily  for- 
givable for  their  naive  boyish  pride.  But  in  the  same 
diaries,  a  year  or  two  later,  this  young  articled  clerk 
jots  down  another  reflection  rather  strangely  prophetic 
of  what  was  to  come.  A  quotation  appeared  in  the 
Carnarvon  and  Denbigh  Herald  which  signified  that 
David  Lloyd  George  was  already  in  the  public  eye: 

"When  first  the  college  rolls  receive  his  name, 
The  young  enthusiast  quits  his  ease  for  fame, 
Resistless  burns  the   fever  of   renown, 
Caught  from  the  strong  contagion  of  the  gown."  * 

Young  Lloyd  George  makes  a  curiously  level-headed 
comment  on  this  reference  to  his  thirst  for  renown: 

"Perhaps  (?)  it  will  be  gratified.  I  believe 
it  depends  entirely  on  what  forces  of  pluck  and 
industry  I  can  muster." 

Strangely  sober  reflection  for  the  eighteenth  year! 

The  desire  for  fame — that  "last  infirmity  of  noble 
minds" — was  already  there.  But  it  had  not  turned 
the  head  of  the  young  man.  Already  he  seemed  to 
have  some  measure  of  the  task  before  him,  and  of 
the  effort  that  would  be  required  to  achieve  it. 

1From  Dr.  Johnson's  "Vanity  of  Human  Wishes"  (135-138),  an 
early  poem,  based  on  Juvenal's  Tenth  Satire.  The  third  and  fourth 
lines  should  run — 

"Thro'  all  his  veins  the  fever  of  renown 
Burns  from  the  strong  contagion  of  the  gown." 

The  poem  was  popular  with  such  different  judges  as  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
Byron,  Cardinal  Newman,  and  Matthew  Arnold. 


CHAPTER  IV 

EARLY  MANHOOD 

"Fame  is  the  spur  that  the  clear  spirit  doth  raise 
(That  last  infirmity  of  Noble  Mind) 
To  scorn  delights,  and  live  laborious  days  " 

MILTON'S  Lycidas. 

DURING  these  years  of  the  early  eighties  (1880-4) 
that  great  Government  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  which 
opened  so  triumphantly  in  1880  was  rapidly  drawing 
towards  its  downfall.  Checked  in  Ireland  and  stagnant 
at  home,  the  Whigs  who  dominated  the  Cabinet  had 
been  gradually  drawn  abroad  into  enterprises  for  which 
they  lacked  both  heart  and  capacity.  Mr.  Gladstone 
was  losing  the  middle  class,  and  not  winning  the 
manual  workers.  Meanwhile  that  astonishing  young 
man  from  Birmingham,  Mr.  Joseph  Chamberlain,  had 
swiftly  perceived  the  decline  of  the  old  Liberalism,  and 
was  building  up  a  new  and  daring  programme  of  social 
and  political  reform.  He  was  speaking  with  a  new 
voice.  He  was  uttering  his  mind  in  simple  language, 
and  calling  things  by  very  plain  names. 

The  heart  of  the  young  Lloyd  George  went  out  to 
this  newcomer  with  a  frank  enthusiasm.  It  is  quite 
clear  from  his  diaries  and  newspaper-writings  during 
these  years  that  he  was  at  the  beginning  a  vehement 
supporter  of  Mr.  Chamberlain. 

In  an  article  on  Mr.  Chamberlain  written  by  David 
Lloyd  George  for  the  North  Wales  Observer  of  Orto- 

51 


52  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

her  1 7th,  1884,  there  is  a  remarkable  passage  which 
is  worth  while  recalling  to-day  as  a  flashing  revelation 
of  the  mind  of  the  young  writer: 

"Mr.  Chamberlain  is  unquestioningly  the  future 
leader  of  the  people.  Any  one  who  reads  his 
speeches  will  know  the  reason  why.  .  .  .  He 
understands  the  sympathies  of  his  countrymen.  It 
is  therefore  that  he  speaks  intelligibly  and 
straightforwardly,  like  a  man  who  is  proud  of  the 
opinions  which  he  holds.  He  is  a  Radical,  and 
doesn't  care  who  knows  it  as  long  as  the  people 
do." 

So  strongly  was  he  attracted  by  Mr.  Chamberlain's 
personality  that  the  young  Lloyd  George  was  always 
inclined  to  take  his  side.  He  supported  him,  for  in- 
stance, in  that  struggle  with  the  Whigs  over  his  Radi- 
cal Programme  which,  by  the  strangest  possible  twist, 
led  later  on  to  that  great  misunderstanding  over  the 
tactics  of  Home  Rule  and  ended  in  splitting  the  old 
Liberal  party.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  had  perhaps  some 
temperamental  sympathy  with  that  spirit  of  impatience 
which  made  Mr.  Chamberlain  resent  so  deeply  the 
snubs  and  checks  he  received  at  the  hands  of  the  Whigs. 

Although  a  fervent  Nationalist  and  Home  Ruler, 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  always  inclined  to  sympathise 
with  Mr.  Chamberlain's  methods  of  approaching  the 
Home  Rule  problem.  Looking  at  it  from  the  view- 
point of  Wales,  he  liked  Mr.  Chamberlain's  feeling 
for  federalism.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  if  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  had  stood  for  Parliament  in  1886,  he  would 
probably  have  been  drawn  by  his  sympathy  for  Mr. 


EARLY  MANHOOD  63 

Chamberlain  into  the  ranks  of  that  small  section  of 
Radical  Unionists  who  followed  Mr.  Chamberlain  in 
his  opposition  to  Gladstonian  Home  Rule,  but  after- 
wards, recoiling  from  open  reaction,  rejoined  the 
Liberal  party — men  like  Sir  George  Trevelyan  and 
Mr.  W.  S.  Caine,  a  small,  afflicted,  but  deeply  inter- 
esting group. 

In  1884  David  Lloyd  George  went  up  to  London  to 
pass  his  Final  Law  Examination  in  order  to  enable 
him  to  be  admitted  on  to  the  roll  of  practising  solicitors. 
His  comment  in  his  diary  on  the  admission  ceremony 
shows  his  growing  freshness  and  independence  of  out- 
look. He  was  not  at  all  cheered  by  that  atmosphere  of 
dusty  dullness  which  envelops  the  ritual  of  our  law: 

"The  ceremony  disappointed  me.  The  Master 
of  the  Rolls,  so  far  from  having  anything  to  do 
with  it,  was  actually  listening  to  some  Q.C.  at 
the  time,  and  some  fellow  of  a  clerk  swore  us  to 
a  lawyerly  demeanour  at  the  back  of  the  court, 
and  off  we  shambled  to  the  Petty  Bag  Office  to 
sign  the  Rolls." 

On  the  occasion  of  this  visit  to  London,  he  again 
attended  the  House  of  Commons,  and  for  the  first 
time  listened  to  a  debate.  He  was  fortunate  enough 
to  be  present  at  a  lively  skirmish  between  Lord  Ran- 
dolph Churchill  and  Mr.  Gladstone.  "It  was  a  clever 
piece  of  comedy,"  he  said  some  years  afterwards,  re- 
calling the  scene.  "I  thought  Churchill  an  impudent 
puppy,  as  every  Liberal  was  bound  to  do — but  I  thor- 
oughly enjoyed  his  speech."  Then,  as  now,  he  could 


54  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

never  sufficiently  express  his  admiration  for  courage 
in  any  field  of  life  and  on  any  side. 

He  could  now  (1884)  leave  the  high  desk  in  the 
square  room  at  the  office  by  the  Town  Hall.  He  had 
served  during  the  past  five  years  ( 1879—1884)  a  faith- 
ful apprenticeship.  He  had  allowed  few  diversions  to 
draw  him  from  his  work.  In  those  days  the  Puritan 
tradition  of  a  little  Welsh  township  held  the  young 
people  in  a  fairly  tight  grip,  and  there  were  few 
light  distractions.  Portmadoc  held  no  theatre  or  opera 
within  its  boundaries.  The  "Moving  Pictures"  had 
not  yet  taken  Puritanism  on  the  flank.  Football  was 
beginning  to  seize  the  Celtic  fancy;  but  David  had  little 
taste  or  time  for  violent  sports.  In  1882  he  became 
a  Volunteer,  and  went  into  camp  at  Conway.  But  it 
is  not  recorded  that  he  secured  any  promotion,  or  at 
any  time  suffered  from  the  pangs  of  military  ambition. 
Otherwise  his  amusements  took  that  sober  form  of  the 
Portmadoc  debating  society  speeches,  or  essays  for  the 
Eisteddfod,  for  which  the  two  brothers  wrote  a  dis- 
course on  the  "Cash  and  Credit  System."  They  spoke 
of  credit  with  a  scorn  unhappily  rare  in  young  men ! 

He  was  no  longer  any  master's  man.  He  could, 
if  he  liked,  set  up  for  himself.  The  firm  for  which 
he  had  worked  all  these  years  had,  indeed,  a  high 
opinion  of  his  powers ;  and  they  did  not  wish  to  lose  him 
wholly.  Mr.  Breese,  the  head-partner,  "a  kind  master 
and  a  thorough  man,"  as  David  described  him  in  his 
diary,  had  died  in  1881;  but  the  other  partners  did 
their  best  to  give  him  a  start.  They  secured  him  an 
offer  of  a  managing  clerkship  in  an  old  county  firm 
at  Dolgelly.  It  would  have  been  a  most  attractive 
opening  for  a  man  who  wished  to  follow  the  safe  course 


EARLY  MANHOOD  55 

in  life.  But  David  Lloyd  George  was  one  who  pre- 
ferred risks.  He  wished  to  be  the  ruler  of  his  own  fate. 

He  had  now  practically  no  one  behind  him.  The 
long  period  of  examination  and  apprenticeship  had 
exhausted  the  slender  stores  of  his  mother  and  his 
uncle.  He  had  even  to  wait  for  his  first  cases  before  he 
could  purchase  the  robes  required  of  a  Welsh  solicitor 
before  he  could  plead  in  the  County  Court. 

But  he  still  preferred  a  small  independence  to  a  big 
dependence.  Perhaps  he  was  right.  Probably  he 
had  ideas  as  to  the  way  of  conducting  a  legal  business 
which  would  not  have  always  gratified  any  old-fash- 
ioned firm  of  country  solicitors. 

The  young  solicitor  started  quite  simply  by  putting 
a  brass  name-plate  on  the  door  of  Morvin  House,  their 
little  dwelling  at  Criccieth.  He  then  began  to  practise 
in  his  uncle's  back  parlour. 

Ft  was  a  daring  venture  for  an  unknown  village 
youth;  but  after  a  few  months  he  began  to  get  under 
way.  His  diaries  of  1885  punctuate  with  thrilling 
eagerness  the  opening  steps  in  his  professional  career — 
his  first  case  in  the  Police  Court,  his  first  service  of 
an  order,  his  first  plea  in  the  County  Court.  Pn  June 
24th  he  records  with  glee  that  he  won  all  his  cases. 
"Never  had  a  more  successful  field-day."  On  July 
9th  he  is  attending  Penrhyn  Sessions  for  the  first 
time,  opposing  the  transfer  of  a  license.  On  Sep- 
tember 8th  he  is  in  the  Revision  Courts.  "Came  off 
better  than  Liberals  ever  did."  In  fact,  he  marches 
in  these  first  skirmishes  from  victory  to  victory. 

So  successful  was  he,  in  fact,  that  in  this  year  (1885) 
he  opened  an  office  in  the  High  Street  at  Portmadoc, 
not  far  from  the  building  in  which  he  had  been  ar- 


66  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

tided.  He  began  in  a  very  small  house,  and  remained 
there  for  some  years  before  moving  to  the  corner 
house  where  the  legend  "Messrs.  Lloyd  George  and 
George"  is  still  prominent  in  the  window.  This  cor- 
ner house  was  previously  a  public-house  known  as  "The 
Fox  Inn."  There  the  brothers — for  now  William  had 
joined  David  in  practice — took  the  end  of  the  lease, 
and  finally  secured  the  freehold.  There,  in  that  dis- 
possessed hostelry,  William  George  practises  to-day 
(1920). 

This  year  and  the  years  that  followed  in  David's 
life  were  crammed  with  intense  activities.  The  diaries 
show  that  day  after  day  he  rose  between  five  and  six 
o'clock.  He  devoted  the  cream  of  his  energies  to  the 
active  pursuit  of  the  law.  But  he  could  never  be  a 
man  of  one  interest.  He  was  also,  during  these  same 
months,  fiercely  energetic  both  in  religion  and  politics. 
He  was  constantly  reading  sermons  and  listening  to 
sermons.  He  often  spoke  from  the  pulpit,  after  that 
liberal  fashion  encouraged  in  the  Free  Churches. 

But  gradually  in  these  diaries  the  political  interest 
begins  to  loom  larger.  When  the  autumn  General 
Election  of  1885  comes  on,  he  takes  an  active  part  with 
pen  and  voice.  On  October  iyth  he  goes  to  the  Tory 
member's  meeting,  and  is  with  difficulty  restrained  from 
taking  part.  On  November  i8th  he  makes  an  impas- 
sioned speech  in  defence  of  Mr.  Chamberlain,  and  is 
tremendously  cheered.  On  November  24th  he  goes  to 
a  Tory  meeting  and  finds  that  he  is  the  chief  butt  of 
their  attack.  He  shows  his  precocious  political  shrewd- 
ness by  the  satisfaction  he  feels  in  thus  drawing  the 
enemy's  fire. 

Instead  of  injuring  the  practice  of  his  profession  by 


EARLY  MANHOOD  57 

these  public  displays  of  courage,  he  soon  found  that 
he  was  really  attracting  to  his  house  and  office  a 
new  class  of  client,  the  discontented  farmers  of  the 
county.  First  one  and  then  another  began  coming  to 
him,  at  first  privily  and  then  confidently.  They  came 
on  tithes,  and  on  rents,  and  on  rates.  He  took  up  some 
of  these  cases  and  scored  successes  which  resounded 
through  the  county.  The  result  was  that  other  men 
came  who  had  never  before  been  to  lawyers,  and  he 
began  to  open  up  a  new  vein  of  business.  Law,  after 
all,  can  sometimes  pay,  even  as  a  remedy  for  injustice. 

He  was,  indeed,  now  becoming  a  very  busy  solicitor 
of  the  kind  which  in  the  provinces  is  not  easily  dis- 
tinguished from  a  barrister.  The  fact  that  a  solicitor 
can  address  a  County  Court  and  a  Petty  Sessional 
Court  gives  him,  outside  the  great  centres  of  English 
life,  a  practical  command  of  both  branches  of  the  law 
and  abolishes  that  rather  absurd  pedantry  of  divided 
function.  This  power  of  speech  suited  young  Lloyd 
George  very  well.  It  gave  him  a  new  training  in  public 
address,  and  it  provided  him  with  a  new  weapon  for 
asserting  public  rights.  From  the  time  of  that  great 
nation  of  lawyers — the  Romans — the  Law  Court  has 
always  been  second  only  to  the  Senate  House  as  an 
instrument  of  popular  power.  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
showed  to  the  Welsh  people  that,  in  the  integrity  of  the 
British  law,  they  had  a  new  resource  for  the  recovery 
of  their  ancient  rights. 

But  never  at  any  time  did  he  allow  the  call  of  the 
law  to  divert  him  from  politics.  Day  by  day  his 
diaries  reflect  his  passionate  interest  in  the  struggle 
of  1885.  When  the  first  results  come  in  he  is  pro- 
foundly disappointed.  "There  is  no  cry  for  the  towns," 


58  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

he  writes  on  November  26th.     "Humdrum  Liberalism 
won't  win  elections."     Then,  on  December  4th: 

"Great  Liberal  victories  in  counties.  Very  glad 
of  it.  Am  convinced  that  this  is  all  due  to  Cham- 
berlain's speeches.  Gladstone  had  no  programme 
that  would  draw  at  all." 

Throughout  we  can  see  his  ardour  for  the  forward 
course  and  the  vigour  in  attack.  "Humdrum  Liberal- 
ism won't  win  elections" — that  was  to  be  the  gist  of 
his  political  teaching  in  later  years :  it  almost  summed 
up  his  political  strategy. 

Certainly  young  Lloyd  George  was  not  himself  in- 
clined to  be  "humdrum."  Just  at  this  moment,  when 
the  old  and  the  new  Liberalism  in  Wales,  as  in  Eng- 
land, were  wrestling  for  the  mastery,  he  definitely  took 
the  forward  side.  It  was  significant  of  this  that  he 
first  came  out  as  a  notable  public  speaker  in  a  sphere 
beyond  his  own  district  at  a  great  public  meeting  held 
at  Festiniog  on  February  I2th,  1886,  and  addressed 
by  the  famous  Irishman,  Michael  Davitt. 

The  Liberal  Party  was  not  at  that  moment  fully 
committed  to  Home  Rule,  and  among  the  elder  men 
there  had  been  grave  head-shakings  over  this  invita- 
tion to  Michael  Davitt.  Rebellion  was  more  seriously 
regarded  in  those  days;  and  Michael  Davitt  had  both 
rebelled  and  paid  the  penalty.  The  law  had  laid  its 
finger  on  him  and  marked  him  with  its  broad  arrow; 
and  respectable  people  whispered  the  word  "felon." 

Young  Lloyd  George  was  invited  to  the  Davitt 
meeting.  There  were  grave  doubts  in  the  family  circle 
as  to  whether  he  ought  to  go.  But  he  was  urged  on 


EARLY  MANHOOD  59 

by  one  who  had  already  a  great  and  growing  influence 
over  him,  a  certain  Maggie  Owen  living  at  a  farm- 
house about  a  mile  from  Criccieth  and  more  and  more 
mentioned  in  the  diaries  of  this  time.  This  young 
lady  already  had  her  definite  views,  and  she  had  no 
patience  with  this  attempt  to  make  a  pariah  of  Michael 
Davitt.  "Of  course  you  must  go,"  she  said  simply; 
"why  not?"  And  that  seemed  to  settle  the  matter. 

The  difficulty  was  to  persuade  any  one  to  move 
a  vote  of  thanks  to  Michael  Davitt  at  this  meeting; 
all  the  prudent  people  stood  aside.  But  there  sat  in 
a  chair  a  brave  and  stalwart  man — Mr.  Michael  Jones 
of  Bala — and  at  the  last  moment  he  persuaded  young 
Lloyd  George  to  move  the  vote  of  thanks.  The  young 
David  rose,  and  he  instantly  made  a  speech  which  was 
largely  reported  and  which  electrified  North  Wales. 
In  this  speech  there  are  already  some  of  those  daring, 
flashing  phrases  with  which  he  afterwards  familarised 
the  world.  There  was  already  that  fearless  touch 
which  has  since  made  the  speaker  a  perpetual  storm- 
centre. 

Michael  Davitt,  always  a  shrewd  judge  of  men, 
was  deeply  impressed  with  the  speech.  He  advised  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  to  think  of  Parliament,  and  the  other 
Michael — Jones  of  Bala — urged  the  same  advice. 
From  that  time  forward  the  young  man's  thoughts 
began  to  turn  towards  Westminster. 

And  yet  his  first  approach  to  Parliament  was  not 
easy.  Some  of  the  young  enthusiasts  who  now  gath- 
ered round  him  wanted  him  to  stand  for  Merioneth- 
shire in  the  General  Election  that  soon  followed  in 
1886.  But  here  there  was  another  son  of  young  Wales 
already  in  the  field  with  stronger  local  claims.  This 


60  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

was  none  other  than  the  man  always  known  afterwards 
as  "Tom"  Ellis,  son  of  a  Merionethshire  farmer.  Ellis 
was  four  years  older  than  Lloyd  George;  and  young 
David  readily  and  instantly  stood  aside  in  favour  of 
the  elder  man.  They  met  soon  after;  and  a  great 
friendship  struck  up  between  them  which  lasted  until 
the  premature  death  of  Tom  Ellis  in  1899.  It  was  a 
wonderful  friendship  between  two  men  of  common 
aspirations  but  utterly  different  character.  Tom  Ellis 
was  by  no  means  the  "Welsh  Parnell" — no  descrip- 
tion could  have  been  further  from  the  truth.  He  was 
a  man  of  high  enthusiasms  and  noble  integrity.  He 
was  a  real  Welsh  Nationalist.  But,  by  going  to  Ox- 
ford, he  had  come  within  the  governing  English  circle ; 
he  was  touched  with  that  Saxonism  which  tempers  the 
native  zeal  of  the  Celt.  He  was  no  longer  "racy  of 
the  soil."  It  was  no  mere  chance  that  he  was  after- 
wards drawn  before  his  due  season  into  the  circle  of 
British  power,  and  was  fated  to  stand  aloof  from  his 
friend  when  Lloyd  George  was  asserting  the  rugged 
and  relentless  claims  of  Welsh  Nationalism. 

Thus  David  Lloyd  George  was  for  the  moment  de- 
layed in  his  progress  to  Parliament.  Perhaps  this 
was  a  fortunate  accident,  because  it  gave  him  a  breath- 
ing time  in  which  to  master  the  needs  of  his  own 
people  and  to  train  himself  more  thoroughly  for  the 
public  stage. 


"A  Daniel  come  to  judgment!     Yea,  a  Daniel  1 
O  wise  young  judge,  how  I  do  honour  thee!" 

SHAKESPEARE'S  Merchant  of  Venice,  Act  I,  Sc.  iv. 

CUT  off  from  Parliament  for  the  moment  (1886) 
David  Lloyd  George  spent  no  time  in  vain  regrets. 
He  resumed  that  life  of  combined  public  and  private 
activity  which  was  rapidly  becoming  his  second  nature. 
His  diaries  during  the  following  years  show  that  he 
was  now  absorbed  in  his  growing  "practice."  But 
that  did  not  prevent  him  from  continuing  his  eager  and 
active  interest  in  public  affairs.  Then,  as  ever  after, 
the  two  interests  developed  together. 

From  this  time  forward  he  steadily  directed  his 
energies  to  work  on  behalf  of  his  own  beloved  little 
nation.  Perhaps  never  did  he  quite  lose  sight  of  that 
high  ambition  to  command  "listening  senates"  which 
had  come  to  him  when  he  first  sat  in  the  Gallery  at 
Westminster  and  looked  down  on  the  combats  of  the 
great  parliamentary  gladiators.  But  for  the  moment 
there  was  urgent  work  to  do  nearer  to  hand;  and 
David  Lloyd  George  knew  the  wisdom  of  Carlyle's 
great  law  of  conduct — "Do  the  Duty  that  lies  nearest 
thee."  * 

So  he  plunged  into  the  great  work  for  Wales  which 
was  already  on  foot  at  his  own  doors. 

1  Sartor  Resartus,  Book  II.,  chapter  ix. 
61 


62 

In  1886  he  joined  eagerly  in  the  great  Antitithe  cam- 
paign which  was  b,eing  carried  on  throughout  North 
Wales  by  those  remarkable  men,  Mr.  Thomas  Gee 
and  Mr.  John  Parry.  David  Lloyd  George  became  the 
Secretary  of  that  League  in  South  Carnarvonshire,  and 
he  addressed  meetings  throughout  the  district.  He 
accompanied  Mr.  Gee  and  Mr.  Parry  on  many  of  their 
most  daring  raids.  He  drove  long  distances  in  a  small 
governess  cart  and  addressed  meetings  in  little  villages 
away  in  remote  districts. 

It  was  characteristic  of  David  that  he  actually  pro- 
voked and  promoted  hostility.  He  would  hold  his 
meetings  by  preference  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Parish  Church  or  "of  the  National  School.  He  would 
regard  it  as  his  greatest  triumph  if  he  could  draw  the 
parson  or  the  curate  to  come  out  and  meet  him  in  open 
warfare.  One  of  the  visions  of  him  at  this  period 
handed  down  is  that  of  a  day  in  June  1887,  when  he 
was  seen  coatless  and  in  his  shirt-sleeves  arguing 
against  the  curate  in  the  open  green  at  the  village  fair 
of  Sarn  Melltcyrn.  He  did  not  shrink  from  passive 
sympathy  with  the  mild  rioting  which  began  to  take 
place  at  the  tithe  sales  resulting  from  the  distraints 
that  followed.  His  whole  heart  went  out  in  sympathy 
to  Welsh  farmers  compelled  by  law  to  contribute  from 
their  pocket  to  what  they  regarded  as  an  alien  Church. 

The  "Tithe  War"  gave  David  Lloyd  George  that 
best  of  training  for  a  young  public  speaker — the  train- 
ing of  public  controversy  in  the  open  air.  It  made  him 
quick  and  resourceful.  Here  was  the  best  possible 
whetstone  for  his  natural  gift  of  courage.  These 
speeches  made  him  already  a  rising  public  champion. 

This  was  a  new  portent  for  the  Welsh  farmer — a 


MARRIAGE  63 

lawyer  who  was  not  in  league  with  the  rich.  It  flashed 
as  a  shining  light  on  the  eyes  of  a  people  who  had 
always  been  used  to  regard  the  law  as  the  paid  servant 
of  power  and  property.  It  brought  more  of  those 
farmers  flocking  to  his  office :  and  once  more  it  brought 
him  forward  as  the  legal  friend  of  the  poor  and  the 
oppressed — "the  poor  man's  lawyer"  of  Carnarvon- 
shire. 

The  people  gradually  learned  that  here  was  a  man 
skilled  in  the  law  who  was  ready  on  their  behalf  to 
face  the  tyrants  of  the  Bench  and  to  challenge  their 
power. 

In  nothing  had  this  power  of  the  Bench  been  more 
ruthlessly  exercised  than  in  the  matter  of  fishing.  By 
a  curious  distortion  of  public  rights,  the  rivers  of  this 
country  have  been  mainly  turned  into  private  property. 
While  fishing  on  the  open  sea  is  as  free  as  the  air, 
unlicensed  fishing  in  fresh  water  in  England  outside 
navigable  waters  is  often  accounted  a  crime.1 

This  law  of  private  property  in  fresh  water  fishing 
has  fallen  with  peculiar  harshness  upon  a  people  like 
the  Welsh,  who  inherit  a  great  passion  for  this  par- 
ticular sport.  The  pressure  of  the  law  has  been  made 
worse  by  the  fact  that  the  prohibition  is  perpetually 
being  extended  to  waters  where  a  customary  right  of 
fishing  has  existed. 

Here  has  been  a  cause  of  perpetual  conflict  between 
the  law  and  the  public — a  conflict  in  which  the  bias 
of  the  law  has  been  mainly  against  the  public. 

Such  a  case  occurred  in  North  Wales  in  May  1889, 
when  four  quarrymen  were  prosecuted  for  fishing  in  a 

1  In  countries  like  Japan  all  fishing  is  free;  and  public  fishing,  of 
course,  can  be  "preserved"  as  easily  as  private. 


64  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

small  mountain  quarry  lake.1  The  aim  of  the  prose- 
cution was  to  bring  the  lake  within  the  definition  of  the 
word  "river"  in  the  Act  of  Parliament.  It  soon  became 
quite  clear  from  the  proceedings  that  the  bias  of  the 
Court  was  against  the  quarrymen.  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
rapidly  determined  to  bring  this  out  in  the  most  vivid 
manner  possible.  So  when  the  chairman — a  great 
local  potentate  and  sportsman — gruffly  interrupted  his 
legal  argument  by  saying  that  the  legal  point  must  be 
tried  in  a  higher  Court,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  swiftly 
replied : 

"Yes,  sir,  and  in  a  perfectly  just  and  unbiassed 
Court  too." 

The  result  of  this  remark  was  precisely  what  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  expected.  The  chairman  rather  un- 
wisely asked  Mr.  Lloyd  George  to  what  magistrate  he 
was  referring.  To  this  the  young  advocate  immedi- 
ately replied: 

"I  refer  to  you  in  particular,  sir." 

Whereupon  the  chairman  immediately  rose  with 
great  pomp  and  dignity  and  left  the  court. 

The  other  magistrates  now  felt  that  it  laid  with 
them  to  take  some  action.  A  second  magistrate,  allied 
to  sport,  protested.  A  third,  noddingly  acquainted, 
declined  to  proceed  with  the  case :  whereupon  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  calmly  remarked,  "I  am  glad  to  hear  it." 
A  fourth  rose  and  left  the  court.  One  of  the  few 
left  asked  Mr.  Lloyd  George  for  an  apology,  where- 
upon he  replied: 

"I  shall  not  withdraw  anything,  because  every 
word  I  have  spoken  is  true." 

xThe  lower  Nantlle  lake. 


MARRIAGE  65 

The  result  was  that  all  the  magistrates  left  the  court, 
and  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  purpose  was  fully  achieved. 

Here  was  an  incident  by  no  means  the  result  of 
mere  thoughtless  impertinence  on  the  part  of  a  young 
lawyer.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  has  always  regarded  this 
as  one  of  the  proudest  incidents  of  his  life.  He  is  still 
of  opinion  that  it  came  at  a  critical  moment  to  shake 
the  petty  tyranny  of  the  local  Bench,  and  he  still  quotes, 
it  as  a  good  example  of  one  of  his  favourite  methods 
of  public  action. 

A  short  time  afterwards  David  Lloyd  George  was 
the  chief  actor  in  another  famous  case  which  showed 
the  people  of  Wales  that  the  spirit  of  British  justice, 
if  boldly  challenged,  was  capable  of  maintaining  their 
cause.  This  was  a  case  arising  from  that  incredible 
ecclesiastical  inhumanity  which  consisted  in  attempting 
to  visit  ignominy  upon  a  man  of  another  faith  even 
after  he  had  passed  through  the  gates  of  death. 
Nothing  did  more  to  shatter  the  power  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church  of  Wales  than  the  refusal  of  the  parsons 
to  bury  the  dead  of  other  sects  within  the  walls  of  the 
old  parish  burial-grounds.  Those  parish  "God's 
acres"  had  been  in  the  possession  of  the  people  before 
the  Reformation,  and  it  was  only  by  a  chance  turn  of 
English  history  that  they  passed  away  from  them. 

The  growth  of  the  great  Free  Churches  resulting 
from  the  immense  religious  revival  of  the  late 
eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth  centuries  made  this  an 
acute  matter.  The  hostility  of  the  Established  Church 
to  this  revival  led  to  a  new  use  of  the  power  of  ex- 
clusion from  the  burial-grounds.  Terrible  memories 
have  centred  round  that  struggle.  The  late  President 
of  the  English  Divorce  Court,  Sir  Samuel  Evans,  once 


66  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

told  me  that  he  had  to  carry  by  stealth  the  coffin  of  his 
first  wife  into  his  parish  cemetery  before  he  could  ob- 
tain burial  for  her  in  Christian  ground.  The  Estab- 
lished Church  in  Wales  has  had  to  pay  heavily  for 
the  luxury  of  such  adherence  to  a  narrow  and  inhuman 
practice: 

In  1880  the  Welsh  members  returned  to  Parliament 
since  the  Liberal  Revival  of  1868  had  succeeded  in 
passing  that  famous  Burial  Act  which  now  enables  a 
British  Nonconformist  to  be  buried  in  a  parish  burial- 
ground  according  to  the  rites  of  his  own  religion  as 
long  as  due  notice  is  given  to  the  parish  priest.  In 
most  of  the  parishes  in  Wales  this  Act  was  accepted 
by  decent  parsons  as  a  satisfactory  settlement  of  a 
prolonged  dispute. 

But  in  the  little  village  of  Llanfrothen,  at  the  very 
foot  of  Snowdon,  there  was  a  rector  whose  fanatical 
religious  instinct  led  him  to  make  one  last  daring  effort 
to  cheat  his  parishioners  out  of  their  rights  of  decent 
Christian  burial.  In  1888,  an  old  quarryman  died  at 
Llanfrothen.  He  left  it  as  his  last  wish  that  he  should 
be  buried  by  the  side  of  his  daughter.  Now,  this 
daughter  had  been  buried  in  a  piece  of  land  which  had 
been  added  to  the  churchyard  as  far  back  as  1864  by  a 
certain  Mrs.  Owen  of  Dolgelly.  The  new  piece  of 
land  had  been  enclosed  by  a  wall  built  out  of  their  own 
money  by  the  parishioners.  This  "acre"  had  been 
recognised  up  to  that  time  as  part  of  the  burial-ground. 
But  the  Rev.  Richard  Jones  cared  nothing  for  walls 
and  little  for  precedents.  This  "churlish  priest"  raked 
up  the  old  records  and  found  that  Mrs.  Owen  had 
made  no  legal  conveyance  of  the  land.  In  1881,  the 
year  after  the  new  Burial  Act  had  passed  into  law,  he 


MARRIAGE  67 

persuaded  that  good  lady  to  make  a  new  conveyance, 
with  a  trust  which  confined  it  to  those  parishioners  who 
used  the  rites  of  the  Church  of  England. 

The  new  grave  had  actually  been  dug  for  the  poor 
old  quarryman  to  rest  by  the  side  of  his  daughter.  A 
notice  under  the  new  Act  was  served  upon  the  rector. 
Then  began  the  struggle.  The  rector  filled  in  the 
grave  and  pointed  out  another  spot  for  the  burial  of 
the  old  quarryman — a  spot  far  from  his  daughter, 
"bleak  and  sinister,"  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
— a  place  reserved  for  shipwrecked  sailors  and  suicides. 

It  was  at  that  moment  in  the  struggle  that  the 
relatives  of  the  quarryman  went  to  consult  young  David 
Lloyd  George. 

Without  any  hesitation  Mr.  Lloyd  George  advised 
them  to  act  on  their  rights.  Following  his  daring 
counsel,  they  entered  the  graveyard  and  reopened  the 
filled-in  grave.  Then  they  made  a  pathetic  appeal  to 
the  rector.  He  still  forbade  them  to  act.  Then  they 
made  a  demand  on  the  rector.  He  still  refused.  Mean- 
while young  David  had  spent  a  night  in  foraging  and 
rummaging  through  the  church  records,  and  he  had 
discovered  that  in  1864  the  rector  had  allowed  the 
public  to  enclose  the  piece  of  ground  without  any  condi- 
tions. He  advised  the  relatives  to  go  on.  Let  them, 
if  necessary,  break  into  the  churchyard. 

They  went  on.  They  broke  into  the  churchyard. 
They  borrowed  a  bier  from  the  church.  They  gave 
the  old  man  a  Christian  burial  by  his  daughter.  The 
Calvinist  minister  spoke  the  service,  and  the  relatives 
went  home  happier — contented  with  the  feeling  that 
they  had  buried  the  old  man  where  he  had  wished 
to  lie. 


68  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Infuriated  by  their  defiance,  the  stubborn  rector  sued 
the  relatives  for  damages  in  Portmadoc  County  Court. 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  took  up  the  defence  and  asked  for 
a  jury.  The  jury  decided  that  his  facts  were  correct. 
The  County  Court  Judge  decided  against  him  on  the 
point  of  law.  Fortunately  for  Mr.  Lloyd  George, 
the  Judge  made  an  incorrect  record  of  the  jury's  verdict 
and  refused  to  correct  it.  David  Lloyd  George  ap- 
pealed to  the  Divisional  Court.  He  was  heard  by  Lord 
Chief  Justice  Coleridge  and  Justice  Manisty.  In  the 
middle  of  the  case  Lord  Chief  Justice  Coleridge  dis- 
covered the  incorrect  record  by  the  County  Court 
Judge.  Result — fury  of  the  Lord  Chief  Justice,  anger 
of  the  Court,  and,  finally,  a  verdict  in  favour  of  the 
quarryman. 

So  that  poor  old  quarryman  of  Llanfrothen  was 
after  all  laid  to  rest  in  peace  in  that  little  burial-ground 
beneath  the  mighty  precipices  of  Snowdon;  and  the 
fame  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George  spread  wider  and  wider 
throughout  North  Wales.  It  was  felt  that  here  at 
last  the  people  had  a  man  who  had  the  courage  to 
support  them  in  theif  struggles  against  the  powers  in 
high  places. 

He  now  began  to  act  as  a  popular  pleader  in  cases 
of  social  injustice  before  the  Petty  Courts  of  the 
Principality. 

It  was  during  this  period  of  dawning  thoughts  and 
powers  that  David  Lloyd  George  wooed  and  won  the 
woman  who  became  his  wife.  The  young  man  was  at 
that  time  a  keen-eyed,  attractive  youth;  and  the  silver 
tongue  which  he  was  already  using  in  Court  and  on  the 
platform  was  also  very  social  in  private  life.  He  was 


MARRIAGE  69 

from  the  beginning  a  sociable,  conservative  man. 
Dowered  with  welded  gifts  of  wit  and  wisdom,  he  had 
already  the  makings  of  a  good  talker.  Above  all,  he 
had  that  gift  of  sympathy  with  the  views  of  others 
which  is  more  popular  with  women  than  with  men.  So 
it  was  that  the  cottage-born  boy  of  Llanystumdwy,  the 
promising  son  of  Morvin  House,  was  a  prime  favourite 
with  the  girls  of  Criccieth — and  with  one  girl  in  par- 
ticular who  lived  just  outside  Criccieth. 

For  about  a  mile  inland  from  the  sea,  on  a  hundred- 
acre  farm  called  Mynydd  Ednyfed,  there  lived  a  farm- 
ing family  of  old  lineage  and  high  standing  possessing 
the  proud,  historic  Welsh  name  of  Owen.  They  claimed 
descent  from  Owen  Glyndwr,  and  they  faced  life  with 
that  simple  Homeric  pride  which  lends  dignity  to 
worthy  living.  The  yeomen  farmers  of  Wales,  like 
the  "statesmen"  of  the  Cumberland,Dales,  inherit  the 
pride  of  landed  men;  and  the  Owens  were  no  exception 
to  this  rule. 

The  Owens  of  Ednyfed  had  a  daughter — Maggie 
by  name — whom  they  loved  passing  well.  She  was 
the  apple  of  her  father's  eye;  and  no  man  who  sought 
her  hand  was  likely  to  have  an  easy  time.  That,  of 
course,  was  likely  to  make  Maggie  not  less,  but  more 
desirable  to  David  Lloyd  George. 

Maggie  went  to  chapel  at  Criccieth,  and  the  young 
people  met  in  that  simple  but  thrilling  way — when  the 
heart  is  at  its  best  and  highest — as  they  went  to  and 
from  their  little  chapels.  They  did  not  worship  to- 
gether; for  the  Owens  were  Methodists.  But  love  has 
leapt  higher  barriers  than  that  between  Baptists  and 
Methodists. 

Then  there  came  those  entries  in  the  diaries — inno- 


70  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

cent,  human  entries — how  David  took  Maggie  home 
from  meetings — how,  later  on,  he  began  to  go  to  the 
farm  and  talk.  Little  is  said ;  but  we  see  the  old,  old 
story  developing  along  its  ancient  trodden  paths.  The 
son  of  the  land  is  going  back  to  the  land  for  his 
wooing. 

Then  came  those  stones  in  the  path  without  which 
the  truth  of  love  never  was  and  never  shall  be  proved. 
It  was  after  1885  that  the  young  man  began  to  go 
frequently  to  the  farmhouse — solely,  of  course,  to 
obtain  sound  political  advice  and  counsel  from  a  very 
wise  young  lady.  Fathers  have  strange  illusions,  and 
at  first  Mr.  Owen  thought  that  David  came  to  talk  to 
him.  Many  fathers  have  often  thought  the  same. 

But  the  day  came  to  Mr.  Owen,  as  it  comes  to  all 
parents,  when  the  veil  was  torn  asunder.  It  became 
only  too  obvious  that  this  young  man  did  not  toil  out 
so  often  to  Ednyfed  solely  in  order  to  enjoy  the  society 
of  Mr.  Owen — or  even  of  Mrs.  Owen. 

Then  M,r.  Owen  became  less  friendly.  It  is  not 
Polonius  only  who  thought  himself  wiser  than  youth; 
and  in  this  case  Mr.  Owen  brought  Mrs.  Owen  over 
to  his  side. 

Ah!  If  this  young  David  could  look  forward  to  the 
secure  tenancy  of  a  good  solid  farmhouse  and  a  rich, 
broad-acred  farm,  how  different  it  would  be !  But 
there  he  was,  a  struggling  limb  of  the  law,  scarcely 
emerged  from  articles,  given  to  outrageous  public 
forays,  still  under  his  uncle's  roof!  Farmers  rarely 
love  lawyers. 

Happily  the  Owen  parents  had  friends  and  relations, 
who  took  a  sounder  and  longer  view.  Maggie  had  one 
of  those  friendly  aunts  who  are  the  best  counsellors  of 


MARRIAGE  71 

our  youth.  That  good  lady  now  urged  Maggie  to  stick 
to  the  young  man.  "Mark  you,"  she  would  say,  "that 
young  man  has  a  great  future.  Don't  give  him  up." 
Maggie  was  perhaps  like  any  other  young  girl,  at  first 
a  little  divided  and  disturbed — distracted  between  the 
calls  of  love  and  filial  duty.  But  in  the  end  she  did 
the  sound,  straight  thing — she  stuck  to  her  man  and 
won. 

Once  the  victory  was  established,  and  bold  heart  had 
won  fair  lady,  then  the  parental  entrenchments  sur- 
rendered. The  white  flag  became  the  flag  of  loyalty; 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Owen,  once  won  over,  became  the 
devoted  friends  and  worshippers  of  their  son-in-law  up 
to  the  close  of  their  lives.  I  saw  something  of  them 
in  their  home  at  a  later  time;  and  among  all  those 
humble  folk  who  have  helped  David  Lloyd  George  to 
achieve,  those  two  wise  elders,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Owen, 
held  no  mean  or  unworthy  place. 

The  years  flew  swiftly,  and  by  1888  it  became  clear 
that  Maggie's  aunt  was  the  true  prophetess,  and  that 
the  young  Criccieth  solicitor  was  a  coming  man.  The 
rumour  of  him  was  spreading  through  the  county  like 
the  roar  of  a  "spate"  from  the  hills  of  Snowdon.  What 
was  more  important,  he  was  earning  an  income.  Not 
even  the  thrifty,  careful  farmer  of  Ednyfed  could  doubt 
any  longer. 

So  with  the  opening  of  that  year  it  was  decided  that 
the  marriage  should  take  place. 

On  January  24th,  1888,  just  after  the  twenty-fifth 
birthday  of  the  young  bridegroom,1  David  Lloyd 
George  and  Maggie  Owen  were  married.  The 
wedding  took  place  in  a  romantic  spot,  in  the  little 

1  He  was  born  on  January  ijth,  1863. 


72  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

chapel  of  Pencaenewydd,  an  inland  Carnarvonshire 
village,  a  few  miles  from  Chwilog.  Uncle  Lloyd 
took  David  over  by  train  on  that  fateful  morn- 
ing to  Chwilog;  there  they  breakfasted,  and  walked 
over  to  Pencaenewydd.  Uncle  Lloyd  and  the  Rev. 
John  Owen  performed  the  simple  ceremony;  and  there 
were  present  only  relations  and  a  few  friends.  But  it 
was  recorded  in  the  Carnarvon  Herald  that  flags  were 
to  be  seen  everywhere  in  Criccieth,  and  in  the  evening, 
after  the  young  couple  had  left  for  London,  the  people 
defied  the  drizzling  rain  with  a  bonfire  and  fireworks. 
Already  the  people  knew  their  friend. 

Twenty-nine  years  later  (1917)  a  daughter  of  these 
simple  spousals  was  married  with  the  same  simplicity 
in  a  little  Baptist  chapel  in  London.  Only  the  welling, 
pressing  crowd  outside  the  chapel  showed  that  the  man 
who  stood  by  the  pulpit  giving  away  his  daughter  was 
Prime  Minister  of  England.  One  wedding  was  as 
simple  as  the  other. 

When  they  returned  to  Criccieth  from  their  brief 
honeymoon,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lloyd  George  settled  down 
at  first  at  Mynydd  Ednyfed,  in  the  farmhouse  of  the 
Owens,  and  there  they  spent  a  few  happy  years  under 
her  parents'  roof.  There  the  elder  children  were  born. 

It  was  soon  clear  that  the  marriage  was  not  going 
to  bring  any  abatement  of  courageous  action  on  the 
part  of  the  young  husband.  Mrs.  Lloyd  George  was 
not  the  sort  of  wife  who  encourages  her  husband  to 
uxorious  ease.  She  was,  and  always  has  been,  on  the 
side  of  daring.  She  faces  danger  with  a  simplicity 
which  is  disarming. 


One  night,  for  instance,  there  was  to  be  held  at 
Criccieth  a  meeting  of  the  kind  known  as  "Church 
Defence" ;  a  species  of  gathering  not  free  from  offence 
to  the  people  of  Wales.  David  was  suffering  from  a 
mild  attack  of  tonsillitis.  There  seemed  every  reason 
why  he  should  not  go  to  the  meeting. 

But  the  people  of  Carnarvonshire  had  had  to  stand 
a  good  deal  of  this  sort  of  thing;  and  David's  blood 
was  up.  He  wanted  to  go.  Would  his  young  wife 
mind?  She?  "Why  not  go?"  she  said. 

So  he  went  off,  closely  muffled  up  by  a  wife  who  was 
tender  as  well  as  brave. 

He  stepped  into  the  meeting  with  one  definite  object. 
It  was  his  deliberate  intention  to  stop  a  practice  that 
was  growing  into  a  scandal.  It  had  become  a  habit 
in  these  gatherings  to  fend  off  the  eager  questionings 
of  militant  Nonconformity  by  disingenuous  postpone- 
ment. It  is  a  method  well  known  to  the  tricksters  of 
public  life.  "Questions?  Oh!  yes,  as  many  as  you 
like!  Only  it  is  more  convenient  to  answer  them  at 
the  close  of  the  meeting!"  Then  at  the  close — "So 
sorry!  But  our  friend  here  has  to  catch  a  train — his 
invaluable  time — "  We  all  know  this  sort  of  thing. 

But  at  the  opening  of  this  particular  meeting — an 
important  meeting,  to  be  addressed  by  a  very  special 
Church  advocate — there  arose  the  young  David  Lloyd 
George,  muffled  but  insistent.  Yes,  he  wanted  to  ask 
some  questions.  No,  he  would  rather  ask  them  now. 
In  fact,  he  intended  to  ask  them  now.  So  he  stood, 
pale  to  the  lips,  but  unyielding. 

The  audience,  taking  courage,  began  to  clap  and 
cheer.  "To  the  platform!"  shouted  some  one.  So 


74  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

David  quite  deliberately  stepped  up  to  the  platform, 
mounted  it,  and  began  to  address  the  meeting. 

In  vain  did  the  righteous  rage.  The  chairman  or- 
dered David  down.  He  held  his  ground.  Nay,  he 
began  to  address  the  people,  simply,  incisively,  thrill- 
ingly.  The  chairman  was  forgotten.  David  had  be- 
come the  speaker  of  the  hour. 

Then  a  curious  thing  happened.  Warming  to  the 
task,  David  began  to  take  off  his  mufflers.  He  un- 
wound them  and  cast  them  aside.  His  hoarse  voice  be- 
came clear  and  ringing.  The  sick  throat  was  forgotten. 

He  captured  the  meeting.  The  platform  was 
silenced.  It  was  he  who  made  the  speech  of  the  eve- 
ning; and  at  the  end  the  enthusiastic  Free  Churchmen 
in  the  audience  took  up  the  young  man  and  carried  him 
from  the  hall  on  their  shoulders. 

No,  certainly,  marriage  had  not  pinioned  the  wings 
of  this  young  stormy  petrel. 


CHAPTER  VI 

ENTERS  PARLIAMENT 

"The  day  of  the  cottage-bred  man  has  at  last  dawned." — 
LLOYD  GEORGE. 

Now  (1888)  happily  married  and  well  started  on 
his  legal  career,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  able  to  return 
to  his  larger  ambition  of  sitting  in  Parliament.  From 
this  time  forward  he  definitely  aspired  to  sit  at  West- 
minister as  the  representative  of  his  own  native  constit- 
uency, the  Carnarvon  Boroughs.  The  achievement 
was  not  to  be  easy.  There  were  many  lions  in  the  path. 

During  the  last  few  years,  indeed,  he  had  immensely 
increased  his  reputation.  He  had  travelled  through 
many  parts  of  Wales  and  visited  many  courts,  fighting 
the  cause  of  the  "under-dog."  The  tenants  of  Wales, 
harried  and  evicted  after  1868  and  1880,  had  begun  to 
hold  up  their  heads  again.  They  felt  that  they  had  a 
new  champion  on  their  side. 

But  the  old  habit  of  sending  to  Westminster  only 
the  powerful  and  wealthy  was  not  yet  dead.  Feudalism 
always  dies  slowly.  It  was  a  very  sudden  change  in- 
deed to  pass  from  the  squire  and  the  manufacturer 
to  the  cottage-bred  lad  of  Llanystumdwy. 

David  Lloyd  George,  indeed,  neglected  no  oppor- 
tunities. Besides  being  a  lawyer  and  a  public  speaker, 
he  was  now  an  active  journalist.  Working  with  that 
fine  spirit,  Mr.  D.  R.  Daniel — then  one  of  the  noblest 

75 


76  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

sons  of  the  Young  Welsh  movement — David  Lloyd 
George  founded  at  Pwllheli  in  1888  a  paper  called 
The  Trumpet  of  Freedom — a  name  which  certainly  did 
not  lack  sound  and  vigour. 

Then,  a  few  months  after  his  marriage,  with  the 
consent  and  support  of  his  fearless  wife,  he  allowed 
his  name  first  to  be  put  forward  as  possible  Liberal 
candidate  for  the  Carnarvon  Boroughs. 

Then  followed  one  of  those  personal  struggles  which 
test  and  try  a  man. 

It  is  right  that  all  claim  to  rise  above  our  fellows 
should  be  narrowly  scrutinised.  There  is  even  in 
jealousy  some  element  of  that  instinct  for  equality 
which  gives  dignity  to  the  meanest  man.  Here  is  a 
factor  that  takes  multitudinous  forms,  varying  from 
fair  judgment  to  sheer  malice.  The  strongest  man  will 
wince  under  the  scorpions  of  spite;  but  he  will  accept 
the  verdict  of  a  fair  jury  of  his  peers.  It  was  to  such 
a  jury  that  young  David  Lloyd  George  now  fearlessly 
appealed. 

Certainly  it  was  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  his 
claims  to  the  seat  should  pass  unchallenged.  He  was 
still  (1888)  only  twenty-five  years  old.  He  was  ap- 
pealing to  his  own  country-side ;  and  a  prophet  is  re- 
corded to  have  authority  anywhere  but  there.  There 
was  the  inevitable  question  of  envious  neighbors — "Is 
not  this  the  bootmaker's  boy?"  There  was  the  man 
who  had  known  "David"  with  the  curls  down  his  back 
— who  had  kept  a  record  of  his  youthful  pranks.  Then 
there  was  "the  County" — that  fine  essence  of  squire- 
dom which  had  always  regarded  "the  seat"  as  one  of 
its  own  possessions.  Above  all,  there  were  the  little 
borough  circles — the  elders  in  the  chapels,  the  grey- 


ENTERS  PARLIAMENT  77 

beards  in  the  seats  of  the  saints.  There  were  some 
such  seniors  who  shook  their  heads  gravely  at  such 
madness.  The  boy  must  bide  his  time.  Who  was  he 
to  rule  over  them?  For  when  David,  the  shepherd's 
youngest  son,  came  up  to  face  the  Philistine  champion, 
it  was  not  only  the  Philistine  enemy,  but  also  his  own 
elder  brothers  who  scoffed  and  doubted. 

Against  all  these  doubts  and  envies  only  one  thing 
could  prevail.  It  was  the  new  wave  of  Nationalism 
which  was  sweeping  over  the  younger  generation 
throughout  Wales,  and  especially  North  Walos.  Wales 
was  tired  of  those  respectable  professional  members 
who  were  so  easily  captured  by  the  political  machines 
at  Westminster.  They  wanted  some  one  endowed  with 
the  courage  to  revolt;  and  already  they  had  a  percep- 
tion that  David  Lloyd  George  was  such  a  man.  He 
had  shown  this  in  his  defence  of  the  fishermen  of 
Nantlle,  and  in  his  championship  of  that  poor  old 
quarryman  of  Llanfrothen.  In  both  cases  he  had 
defied  authority;  and  in  both  cases  he  had  won.  He 
had  been  the  first  to  break  the  tradition  of  fear  which 
brooded  over  the  Welsh  people. 

He  had  already  roused  a  new  spirit  of  hope  in  the 
younger  generation :  and  they  were  determined  that  he 
should  carry  their  banner  forward. 

At  first  his  candidature  progressed  very  slowly.  It 
was  true  that  the  constituency  had  fared  badly  of  re- 
cent years.  In  1886,  when  Tom  Ellis  was  sweeping 
all  before  him  in  Merionethshire,  the  Carnarvon  Bor- 
oughs had  put  forward  an  old-fashioned  Liberal  who 
had  lost  the  seat  to  an  able  Tory. 

At  this  time  it  was  still  in  the  possession  of  that 
Tory  member — Mr.  Swetenham,  Q.C.  Humdrum 


78  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Liberalism,  as  David  Lloyd  George  had  already  proph- 
esied, had  not  proved  a  winning  card  in  the  Bor- 
oughs. But  such  an  experience  does  not  always  remove 
prejudice.  There  were  those  who  argued  that  a  Q.C. 
could  only  be  defeated  by  another  Q.C. — or  say,  a 
professor;  or  perhaps,  even  better,  a  millionaire,  if  he 
could  be  obtained.  We  all  know  these  dreams  that 
haunt  the  minds  of  local  committee-men  in  difficult  and 
doubtful  constituencies. 

The  first  step  towards  achievement  was  taken  in  the 
spring  of  1888  when  he  was  adopted  as  candidate  by 
the  Liberals  in  the  Borough  of  Carnarvon.1  But  for 
some  months  the  other  four  Boroughs  held  aloof,  and 
it  was  not  until  later  in  the  year  that  he  was  selected  as 
candidate  by  the  Liberals  of  Nevin,  Pwllheli,  and 
Criccieth.  For  several  months  longer  there  was  a 
hesitation  among  the  respectabilities  of  that  eniinent 
cathedral  city  of  Bangor,  where  even  Liberalism  has  a 
tinge  of  blue.  But  on  December  2Oth  Bangor  sur- 
rendered, and  he  was  chosen  as  Liberal  candidate  for 
the  whole  constituency. 

It  is  clear  from  the  letters  and  diaries  of  the  time 
that  these  months  marked  a  period  of  great  stress  in  his 
life.  When  he  was  selected  at  Bangor  he  wrote  to 
his  family  one  of  those  passionate  youthful  assertions 
of  "will  to  win"  characteristic  of  power  in  the  bud: 

"Despite  all  the  machinations  of  my  enemies,  I 
will  succeed.  I  am  now  sailing  before  the  wind, 
and  they  against  it." 

*Now  (1920)  as  then  a  constituency  consisting  of  five  Welsh  Bor- 
oughs— Carnarvon,  Bangor,  Criccieth,  Pwllheli,  and  Nevin.  Out  of 
consideration  for  the  Prime  Minister  the  constitution  was  left  unaltered 
by  the  Act  of  1918. 


ENTERS  PARLIAMENT  79 

It  is  clear  from  these  sentences  that  there  was  keen 
personal  opposition  to  his  candidature.  It  was  a  mo- 
ment in  Welsh  Liberalism  of  fierce  tidal  struggle  be- 
tween the  old  and  the  new  forces.  The  old  forces  died 
hard.  That  type  of  Liberalism,  still  not  rare  in  Eng- 
land, which  aims  at  cashing  its  seat  in  Parliament  for 
money  favours  or  local  privileges,  was  by  no  means 
yet  dead  in  Wales.  The  strong  wind  of  that  great 
national  spirit  which  has  since  swept  through  the  Prin- 
cipality had  not  yet  risen  to  hurricane  force.  There 
were  many  elements  of  fear  and  self-interest  which 
viewed  with  horror  the  challenge  to  powers  in  high 
places  which  David  Lloyd  George  set  before  Wales 
as  the  only  sure  road  to  liberty.  These  men  found  his 
doctrine  too  hard  for  them.  Mr.  Doubting  and  Mr. 
Feeble-mind  hoped  still  to  serve  two  masters  and  to 
get  the  best  of  two  worlds.  It  yet  required  a  great 
struggle  before  David  Lloyd  George  could  convince 
them  that  his  was  a  sign  in  which  they  could  conquer. 
These  great  victories  are  not  achieved  easily;  it  is  only 
through  great  storm  and  stress  that  nations  attain  to 
freedom  of  soul. 

But  a  great  event  in  this  progress  was  destined  to 
take  place  the  following  year — 1889.  It  was  a  singu- 
lar curiosity  of  this  period  of  reaction  in  British  home 
affairs  that  there  had  crept  into  the  Unionist  Govern- 
ment a  man  of  large  and  progressive  views.  Mr.  C.  T. 
Ritchie  l  had  emerged  from  the  British  .middle  class  to 
take  his  seat  among  the  mighty  of  this  land.  He  had 
not  lost  sight  of  his  own  people  in  the  process.  Mr. 
Ritchie  was  a  bluff  man,  rugged  of  speech  and  ungainly 
of  appearance.  He  seemed  like  a  fly  in  amber  in  the 

1  Afterwards  Lord  Ritchie. 


80  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

midst  of  a  Tory  Government.  But  he  happened  to  be 
very  popular  with  Queen  Victoria,  and  he  was  a  power 
in  the  City  of  London.  It  has  always  been  in  England 
a  part  of  the  compromise  of  the  great  aristocrats  who 
dominate  the  Tory  Party  that  they  should  promote  to 
high  office  a  few  shining  lights  of  the  middle  class. 
In  an  earlier  time  they  had  to  promote  Sir  Robert  Peel 
— at  a  great  price  to  their  cause.  Now  they  had  to 
admit  Mr.  Ritchie;  and  the  penalty  was  almost  as 
great.  For  in  1888,  by  creating  the  County  Councils, 
he  struck  a  blow  at  the  roots  of  county  feudal  govern- 
ment. 

Young  Lloyd  George  saw  in  a  flash  the  tremendous 
opportunity  thus  given  to  Wales.  He  knew  by  long 
experience  that  the  power  of  the  squires  was  largely 
based  upon  their  control  of  county  government  in  Quar- 
ter Sessions.  He  saw  that  they  would  endeavour  to 
prolong  their  power  by  capturing  the  new  County 
Councils.  He  determined  to  do  his  utmost  to  defeat 
them.  He  refused  to  stand  for  election  himself,  al- 
though he  was  offered  four  seats.  His  own  ambition 
was  larger.  It  was  to  capture  the  county.  He  moved 
about  from  place  to  place  speaking  everywhere  and 
trying  to  rouse  the  whole  of  Carnarvonshire  to  the 
great  chance  now  placed  in  their  hands.  He  succeeded. 
He  carried  the  county.  Everywhere  the  candidates 
of  progress  were  returned.  "It  is  a  revolution!"  he 
cried.  "The  day  of  the  squire  has  now  gone!"  l  So 
profound  was  the  conviction  of  the  Welsh  Liberals 
that  he  had  won  their  battle  for  them  that  he  was  im- 
mediately chosen  as  county  Alderman  along  with  Mr. 

1  In  a  speech  at  Liverpool  on  February  i8th,  1889.  The  first  men- 
tion of  Mr.  Lloyd  George  in  a  leading  article  was  in  the  Carnarvon 
Herald  over  this  speech. 


MRS.  WILLIAM  GEORGE,  THE  MOTHER  OF  DAVID  LLOYD  GEORGE. 


DAVID    LLOYD    GEORGE    AT    THE    AGE    OF    SIXTEEK 


ENTERS  PARLIAMENT  81 

(now  Sir)  Arthur  Acland,  who,  at  that  time,  had  a 
house  in  Carnarvonshire. 

"The  boy  Alderman,"  as  he  was  called,  instantly 
threw  himself  hotly  into  the  new  work  of  the  Carnar- 
vonshire County  Council.  He  became  a  conservator 
for  those  native  rivers  of  his  which  he  loved  so  dearly, 
soon  winning  for  them  that  freedom  for  which  he  had 
always  striven  in  other  ways.  He  took  an  active  part 
in  every  branch  of  administration.  But  his  main  pur- 
pose was  directed  to  using  the  Welsh  County  Councils 
as  a  political  stepping-stone  towards  the  great  goal  of 
Home  Rule  for  Wales.  He  was  a  prime  mover  in 
appointing  a  Committee  to  collect  evidence  for  the 
Royal  Commission  on  the  Sunday  Closing  Act  in 
Wales.  He  pushed  forward  the  idea  of  an  Association 
of  County  Councils  for  the  whole  of  the  Principality. 
During  those  months  of  1889  David  Lloyd  George 
created  a  Home  Rule  weapon  in  Wales  of  which  he 
was  destined  to  make  a  mighty  use  in  one  of  the 
greatest  struggles  of  his  later  years.  Perhaps  he 
"builded  better  than  he  knew."  But  it  is  a  very  strik- 
ing evidence  of  his  early  political  instinct  that  he  should 
have  perceived  so  soon  the  full  possibilities  of  the 
Welsh  County  Councils. 

The  tide  of  events  now  began  to  sweep  him  rapidly 
towards  a  larger  political  career.  As  recognised  can- 
didate for  the  Carnarvon  Boroughs  he  already  began 
to  play  an  important  part  on  the  larger  political  stage. 
In  October  1889  he  had  supported  a  Welsh  Disestab- 
lishment resolution  at  a  meeting  of  the  Welsh  Na- 
tional Council.  In  December  he  persuaded  the  Na- 
tional Liberal  Federation  at  Manchester  to  accept  the 
policy  of  the  Local  Veto  on  the  drink  traffic.  On 


82  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

February  4th,  1890,  he  made  at  the  South  Wales  Lib- 
eral Federation  a  brilliant  and  arresting  speech  on 
Welsh  Home  Rule — a  speech  which  instantly  marked 
him  out  as  a  coming  figure  in  Welsh  politics.  He 
argued  with  force  and  power  that,  as  compared  with 
Ireland,  the  argument  for  Welsh  Home  Rule  was 
stronger  because  they  lacked  the  specific  difficulty  of 
Ireland — the  Ulster  problem.  The  speech  made  a 
deep  mark.  Already  in  his  own  country  he  stood  for 
unity  and  daring,  while  even  in  England  rumours  began 
to  reach  the  ears  of  Radical  politicians  that  a  new 
and  fiery  force  was  arising  hard  by  the  rocks  of 
Snowdon. 

It  was  at  this  critical  moment  that  Mr.  Swetenham, 
the  Conservative  member  for  the  Carnarvon  Boroughs, 
died ;  and  suddenly  the  young  David  Lloyd  George  was 
faced  with  a  supreme  challenge.  Probably,  if  he  had 
been  able  to  shape  events  himself,  he  would  have  pre- 
ferred to  wait  a  few  years  before  standing  for  Parlia- 
ment. But  to  some  men  the  call  of  fate  comes  early 
and  swiftly,  and  cannot  be  denied. 

Certainly  David  Lloyd  George  showed  no  sign  of 
hesitating  to  meet  the  call.  On  March  24th,  1890,  he 
issued  his  Address — a  brief,  terse,  dignified  statement 
of  his  political  faith.  It  was  not  the  Address  of  an 
ordinary  Liberal  candidate.  True,  he  gave  his  homage 
to  Mr.  Gladstone  and  the  cause  of  Irish  Home  Rule; 
but  then  he  passed  on  rapidly  to  a  strong  assertion  of 
the  claims  of  Wales — first  and  foremost,  for  religious 
liberty  and  equality;  then  for  sweeping  reforms  in 
land  and  labour  laws;  last,  but  not  least,  for  a  liberal 
extension  to  Wales  of  the  principle  of  self-government. 


ENTERS  PARLIAMENT  83 

In  other  words,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  stoou  for  Parlia- 
ment always  before  all  things  as  a  Welsh  Nationalist. 
In  subsequent  years,  when  he  was  to  be  so  often  accused 
of  disloyalty  to  the  Liberal  Party,  that  fact  might  per- 
haps have  been  more  often  remembered. 

The  sudden  death  of  the  Tory  member  threw  the 
Unionist  organisers  into  some  confusion.  At  first  they 
pushed  forward  a  Liberal  Unionist;  but  Wales  has  no 
liking  for  the  lukewarm  in  politics.  Finally,  they  se- 
lected the  local  squire,  Mr.  Ellis  Hugh  Nanney,1  a 
strong  Tory,  but  a  man  of  considerable  local  popularity 
with  those  who  admired  him. 

Here,  then,  was  a  thrilling  contest — between  the 
village  boy  and  the  local  squire;  between  the  rebel  of 
the  village  school  and  its  secular  ruler;  between  the 
Robin  Hood  of  the  village  woods  and  their  lord  and 
owner. 

It  was  a  sharp,  keen  struggle,  fought  to  all  appear- 
ances on  Irish  Home  Rule;  but  the  weapons  of  the 
fight  were  edged  and  pointed  by  the  new  spirit  of 
freedom  that  was  blowing  hard  from  the  Welsh  hills. 
On  Mr.  Nanney's  side  was  the  old  order,  with  all  its 
powers  and  attractions,  its  graces  and  its  condescen- 
sions; on  the  side  of  David  Lloyd  George  was  the 
keen,  breezy  hope  of  the  future,  with  all  its  rough 
and  rugged  possibilities.  In  the  end  the  veteran  Lib- 
erals of  Wales  rallied  to  the  support  of  the  young 
David.  Both  Mr.  John  Parry  and  Mr.  Thomas  Gee — 
after  a  searching  interrogation — came  to  his  help. 

We  may  be  sure  that  in  the  fierce  atmosphere  of  that 
contest  there  was  little  effort  to  spare  the  humble 
origins  of  the  Liberal  candidate.  It  was  characteristic 

1  Now  Sir  Ellis  Hugh  Nanney. 


84  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

of  David  Lloyd  George  that  he  met  these  attacks,  not 
with  apology,  but  with  bold  defiance. 

On  March  28th,  speaking  at  Carnarvon,  he  uttered 
this  ringing  reply: 

"The  Tories  have  not  yet  realised  that  the  day 
of  the  cottage-bred  man  has  at  last  dawned."  1 

It  is  clear  that  that  idea  had  taken  hold  of  his 
mind  with  mastering  power. 

We  can  recover  a  picture  of  that  little  by-election 
as  the  struggle  ebbed  and  flowed  in  the  streets  of  those 
little  Welsh  townships,  far  away  there  between  the 
mountains  and  the  sea.  To  the  great  world  it  was  a 
mere  episode  in  Mr.  Gladstone's  last  great  struggle.2 
It  was  only  dimly  that  the  shrewd  London  special  corre- 
spondents began  to  perceive  that  something  else  was 
at  stake  also — something  else  for  Wales,  something 
else  for  England  also. 

We  see  the  slow-moving  drama  working  to  a  crisis 
through  that  far-away  Easter-tide — the  public  still 
mainly  absorbed  in  their  holiday  pleasures — the  meet- 
ings at  first  feebly  attended,  and  then,  as  the  day  of 

1  These  words  are  taken  from  the  verbatim  report  of  his  speech  in 
the  Carnarvon  Herald. 

"Mr.  Gladstone  wrote  the  following  by-election  letter: 

"DEAR  SIR, 

"Your  sanguine  anticipations  do  not  surprise  me.  My  surprise 
would  be  this  time,  if  a  Welsh  constituency  were  to  return  a  gentle- 
man who,  whether  Tory  or  Liberal,  would  vote  against  the  claims 
which  Wales  is  now  justly  making,  that  her  interests  and  feelings 
should  at  length  be  recognised  in  concerns  properly  her  own.  Even 
if  he  reserved  or  promised  you  his  individual  vote,  by  supporting 
the  party  opposed  to  you  and  keeping  it  in  power,  he  would  make 
that  favourable  vote  perfectly  nugatory. 

"I  remain, 

"Your  faithful  servant. 

"W.  E.  GLADSTONE." 


ENTERS  PARLIAMENT  85 

election  draws  near,  more  and  more  crowded — the 
squire-candidate  at  first  amiably  confident  and  aloof, 
pleading  ill-health,  then  suddenly  appearing  constantly 
in  public,  feverishly  canvassing,  plainly  alarmed  by 
the  reports  of  his  agents.  All  through  we  can  see  the 
little  "hamlet-lad"  with  the  yellow  rosette — boldly 
sporting  his  colours — flitting  from  town  to  town,  urging 
on  his  supporters,  speaking  to  the  Welsh  people  in  that 
sweet  mellifluous,  persuasive  tongue  of  theirs,  so  magi- 
cal to  those  who  know  it. 

"A  dull  election,"  said  the  correspondents  at  first. 
The  result  seemed  to  them  doubtful.  These  Londoners 
expected  the  Welsh  to  be  very  excitable ;  and  they  were 
surprised  to  find  them  so  calm.  They  forgot  that  deep 
waters  run  still. 

Then  they  began  to  notice  the  Liberal  candidate. 
One  who  heard  him  speak  in  Welsh  wrote  to  London: 
"I  never  heard  any  one  speak  Welsh  so  charmingly  as 
Mr.  Lloyd  George.  It  was  the  first  time  I  had  heard 
him ;  and  though  I  could  not  understand  a  word  of  it,  it 
is  exceedingly  pleasant  to  listen  to  him."  J  Truly,  a 
remarkable  victory  for  the  power  of  sound ! 

Then,  as  the  election  goes  forward,  we  can  see  pale 
fear  gradually  creeping  through  the  ranks  of  Tuscany. 
The  Welsh  Tory  agent  was  hurriedly  sent  down  from 
headquarters  and  wired  back  that  the  situation  was 
serious.  Exertions  were  redoubled.  On  those  last 
days  this  election  certainly  was  not  dull.  Deep  cried 
unto  deep;  and  the  Welsh  crowds  began  to  murmur 
like  the  restless  sea  which  beats  on  their  shores. 

Then   comes   the   polling  day — Friday,   April   4th. 

'The  Daily  News,  April  2nd,  1890:  "He  has  a  flexible,  sympathetic 
voice,  a  silvery,  mellifluous  articulation,  and  his  action  is  that  of  an 
accomplished  orator." 


86  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Up  to  the  last  the  issue  is  doubtful.  It  is  a  neck-and- 
neck  struggle.  The  poll  is  very  heavy.  Carnarvon 
votes  to  a  man — and  Bangor  almost  to  a  man.1  The 
shrewd  observers  are  puzzled.  They  feel  like  those 
who  watch  the  meeting  of  the  tides.  The  signs  are 
not  clear.  One  coming  from  Nevin  finds  David  Lloyd 
George  in  Carnarvon  the  solitary  wearer  of  his  own 
favours.  He  cannot  understand  it. 

Then,  the  closing  scene — the  counting  of  the  votes 
on  the  polling  day  in  the  room  beneath  the  town  hall 
at  Carnarvon.  It  is  midday  of  a  beautiful  spring  day, 
and  the  street  outside  is  packed  with  seething,  expectant 
humanity.  How  slow  they  are  inside  there !  How 
wearily  the  minutes  drag  on!  But  far  away,  over 
Criccieth,  Snowdon  shines,  still  snow-crowned,  beauti- 
ful and  serene. 

Inside  the  town  hall  the  issue  wavers  to  and  fro. 
From  hour  to  hour  fate  oscillates  in  the  balance. 

The  votes  have  now  been  counted.  The  Nanney 
heap  is  'one  side  of  the  table,  and  the  Lloyd  George 
heap  on  the  other.  The  heaps  seem  almost  equal.  But 
to  the  trained  eyes  of  close  observers  the  papers  on 
the  Nanney  heap  rise  above  his  rival's  by  just  a  shadow 
of  a  shade.  There  can  be  no  doubt  about  it — David 
Lloyd  George  is  beaten.  Better  tell  him  at  once. 

David  Lloyd  George  smiles  bravely.  His  friends 
gather  round  him  with  sober  solace.  "Better  luck  next 
time" — when  suddenly  there  is  a  stir  in  the  throng 
which  surrounds  the  ballot  papers. 

One  of  David  Lloyd  George's  vigilant  agents  has 

'The  Carnarvon  Herald  records  that  the  Tories  polled  every  possi- 
ble man.  One  voter  was  brought  all  the  way  from  Wolverhampton. 
Three  Carnarvon  plasterers  were  brought  by  car  to  Carnarvon  from 
the  beach  at  Pwllheli,  where  they  were  working. 


ENTERS  PARLIAMENT  87 

been  better  occupied  than  in  uttering  words.  He  stands 
eagerly  scrutinising  the  piles  of  papers:  and  now  his 
keen  eye  has  noticed  something  doubtful  about  one 
of  the  packets  of  papers  on  Mr.  Nanney's  heap.  He 
picks  it  up  and  glances  rapidly  through  the  voting- 
papers.  Below  one  or  two  Nanney  votes  there  is  a 
little  unnoticed  series  of  votes  for  Lloyd  George.  It 
is  enough  to  make  the  difference,  and  to  return  David 
Lloyd  George  as  member  by  a  majority  of  20. 

Stung  by  frustrated  hope,  the  Nanney  agents  insist 
on  a  recount;  and  one  vote  is  transferred  from  Lloyd 
George  to  Nanney,  reducing  the  majority  to  18. 

David  Lloyd  George  is  M.P.  for  the  Carnarvon 
Boroughs ! 

The  word  goes  swiftly  forth.  As  soon  as  he  appears, 
he  is  received  by  that  hitherto  silent  crowd  with  tu- 
multuous acclaim.  The  still  waters  break  into  foam. 
He  is  drawn  in  a  carriage  through  the  town  by  a  tre- 
mendous crowd.  At  Castle  Square  he  addresses  them 
in  Welsh:  "My  dear  fellow-countrymen,"  he  says,  "the 
county  of  Carnarvon  to-day  is  free.  The  banner  of 
Wales  is  borne  aloft,  and  the  boroughs  have  wiped 
away  the  stains !" 

Eighteen  votes  1 — not  a  very  large  gap  between  de- 
feat and  victory.  But  it  is  enough.  'Twill  serve.  The 
moving  finger  has  written. 

1The  full  figures  were: 

David  Lloyd   George i>963 

Ellis  Nanney i>945 

Majority  ,          18 


CHAPTER  VII 

FIRST  SKIRMISHES 

"And  now, 

Out  of  that  land  where  Snowdon  night  by  night 
Receives  the  confidences  of  lonely  stars, 
And  where  Carnarvon's  ruthless  battlements 
Magnificently  oppress  the  daunted  tide, 
There  comes,  no  fabled  Merlin,  son  of  mist, 
And  brother  to  the  twilight,  but  a  man." 

William  Watson  on  Mr.  Lloyd  George. 

ENTERING  the  House  of  Commons  in  April  1890, 
David  Lloyd  George  walked  straight  into  one  of  those 
great  party  struggles  which  in  those  days  supplied  the 
British  public  with  an  efficient  substitute  for  the  Prize 
Ring.  The  subject  was  a  clause  in  the  Budget  of  1890 
compensating  the  Drink  Trade  for  abolished  licences. 
The  whole  Liberal  Party  attacked  this  clause  hotly 
under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Gladstone.  The  whole 
Unionist  Party  supported  it. 

On  the  face  of  it,  the  young  Lloyd  George,  hot  with 
temperance  enthusiasm,  could  not  have  found  a  more 
congenial  theme.  But  his  letters  and  diaries  reveal 
that  he  felt  an  immediate  chill  on  contact  with  the 
House  of  Commons.  He  found  the  drink  question 
being  used  as  a  great  party  weapon  on  both  sides. 
Shrewd  political  calculations  had  annexed  one  party  to 
drink  and  another  party  to  temperance.  But  the  young 
Lloyd  George,  drunk  with  the  temperance  faith,  de- 
tected no  real  enthusiasm  on  either  side. 

88 


FIRST  SKIRMISHES  89 

"The  debate,"  he  wrote  to  his  uncle  on  May  i6th, 
"was  rather  an  unreal  one,  no  fervour  or  earnestness 
characterising  it.  The  House  does  not  seem  at  all  to 
realise  or  to  be  impressed  with  the  gigantic  evils  of 
drunkenness." 

It  was  characteristic  of  young  Lloyd  George  that  he 
hoped  for  a  great  change  in  the  atmosphere  when  the 
country  was  really  aroused;  and  he  proceeded  to  do 
his  best  to  arouse  it. 

Often  in  the  years  that  followed  the  young  Lloyd 
George  felt  the  same  chill  in  the  atmosphere  of  West- 
minster. He  often  used  to  say  in  those  days  that  he 
found  it  necessary  to  renew  his  strength  by  constantly 
visiting  the  constituencies.  He  was  always  rather  a 
platform  man  than  a  House  of  Commons  man:  he  was 
never  a  great  lobbyist.  Often  in  those  early  years  he 
used  to  find  that  he  gained  more  inspiration  from  great 
popular  meetings  than  from  a  week  in  the  House  of 
Commons. 

He  was  a  little  timid  of  the  House  of  Commons — 
perhaps  wisely  so.  He  saw  in  a  moment  that  the 
House  liked  to  be  wooed  carefully.  "I  shan't  speak 
in  the  House  this  side  of  the  Whitsuntide  holidays," 
he  wrote  to  his  uncle.  "Better  not  appear  too  eager. 
Get  a  good  opportunity  and  make  the  best  of  it — 
that's  the  point."  There,  at  any  rate,  he  showed  that 
he  had  the  first  qualification  for  parliamentary  success 
— respect  for  his  audience. 

I  can  remember  the  ferment  of  expectation  that  gath- 
ered round  Mr.  Lloyd  George  among  those  of  us  who, 
in  those  days,  watched  the  House  of  Commons  from 
the  gallery.  We  had  heard  vaguely  of  him  as  a  great 
"spell-binder"  in  North  Wales.  We  had  been  told 


90  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

that  no  man  equalled  him  in  his  power  of  rousing 
Welsh  crowds  in  the  Welsh  tongue.  We  hard  heard 
that  he  had  the  gift  of  the  "hwyl";  and,  not  knowing 
quite  what  that  meant,  we  expected  to  see  something 
resembling  a  Druid  appear  on  the  floor  of 'the  House 
of  Commons.  Imagine  our  surprise,  therefore,  when 
we  saw  a  slim,  well-groomed  young  lawyer  in  a  frock 
coat  and  with  side-whiskers.  The  few  questions  he 
asked  in  the  first  week  revealed  that  he  had  a  soft, 
rather  sweet  voice,  and  was  more  inclined  to  speak  in 
a  whisper  than  a  shout.  All  these  things  seriously 
upset  our  calculations,  and  considerably  disappointed 
the  hopes  of  all  fervid  sketch-writers. 

It  was  on  June  I3th,  1890,  that  he  first  broke  his 
parliamentary  silence  by  a  speech  on  the  compensation 
clauses.  He  supported  Mr.  Acland's  amendment  for 
diverting  Mr.  Goschen's  grant  from  liquor  compensa- 
tion to  technical  education. 

It  was  by  no  means  the  speech  of  a  fanatical  Druid. 
It  was  a  soft-spoken,  skilful  piece  of  debating  expressed 
in  excellent  idiomatic  English.  It  was  full  of  swift 
debating  thrusts  and  sharp-edged  jests.  It  was  in  this 
speech  that  he  described  Lord  Randolph  Churchill  and 
Joseph  Chamberlain  as  "political  contortionists  who 
can  perform  the  great  feat  of  planting  their  feet  in  one 
direction  and  setting  their  faces  in  another."  Here 
was  just  the  kind  of  humour  that  the  House  of  Com- 
mons loves.  It  came  well  within  the  line  of  that  tra- 
ditional parliamentary  wit  which  has  to  be  appreciated 
even  by  its  victims. 

In  fine,  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  maiden  speech  seemed 
a  good  start  for  a  promising  parliamentary  career. 
It  was  approved  by  Mr.  Gladstone,  praised  by  Sir 


FIRST  SKIRMISHES  91 

William  Harcourt,  and  cheered  by  the  House  itself. 

For  the  moment  the  young  Welsh  victor  was  a  con- 
spicuous figure.  He  stood  in  the  limelight.  He  re- 
ceived from  many  quarters  those  purple  favours  which 
have  turned  the  heads  of  so  many  young  members  fresh 
from  a  by-election.  For  this  return,  coming  after 
several  defeats  of  other  candidates,  was  a  notable  event 
in  the  close  and  desperate  partisan  warfare  of  those 
years. 

It  was  an  event,  indeed,  deemed  worthy  of  special 
attention  from  the  veteran  leader  of  the  Liberal  hosts. 
Mr.  Gladstone  smiled  on  Wales.  On  May  29th  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  was  invited  to  Hawarden  with  a  party 
of  Wels'h  constituents,  who  sang  hymns  and  folk-songs 
on  that  historic  lawn.  The  young  recruit  was  intro- 
duced to  the  Grand  Old  Man,  who  honoured.him  with 
a  special  oration.  "The  Carnarvon  Boroughs,"  he 
said  in  his  stately  way,  "are  a  formidable  place  for 
the  Liberal  Party  to  fight.  Penrhyn  Castle  is  an  im- 
portant centre.  But  truth,  justice,  and  freedom  are 
greater  than  Penrhyn  Castle!"  Mr.  Gladstone  was 
no  doubt  thinking  of  little  more  than  his  beloved  cause 
of  Ireland;  but  the  words  echoed  through  Wales  with 
a  meaning  that  perhaps  Mr.  Gladstone  himself  little 
dreamed  of. 

Thus  David  Lloyd  George  was  initiated  into  the 
sanctities  of  the  Liberal  party.  But  he  was  not  always 
to  prove  an  easy  and  obedient  acolyte. 

For  the  House  of  Commons  had  not  yet  had  any 
taste  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  rebellious  humours.  The 
real  test  of  this  quality  was  yet  to  come. 

It  came  on  August  I3th  of  this  year  (1890)  when 


92  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

he  let  himself  go  with  a  touch  of  his  own  native  daring 
on  some  of  the  items  of  the  Estimates.  He  selected 
them  from  among  those  decorative  payments  which  are 
far  too  easily  granted  by  an  assembly  always  inclined 
to  be  kind  to  the  great  and  prosperous.  One  of  the 
items  was  a  payment  of  £439  on  the  installation  of 
Prince  Henry  of  Prussia  as  a  Knight  of  the  Garter. 
"What  service,"  asked  Mr.  Lloyd  George  boldly,  "has 
Prince  Henry  of  Prussia  ever  rendered  to  this  country? 
He  has  not  yet  rendered  any  service  to  his  own  coun- 
try, to  say  nothing  of  service  -to  Great  Britain." 

Then  he  passed  to  an  item  of  £2,769 — "equipage 
money"  to  the  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland.  "The 
Lord-Lieutenant,"  said  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  "is  simply 
a  man  in  buttons  who  wears  silk  stockings  and  has  a 
coat-of-arms  on  his  carriage."  At  this  he  was  called 
severely  .to  order  by  the  Chairman,  but  that  did  not 
prevent  him  from  a  ruthless  comparison  of  this  ex- 
penditure with  the  recent  report  of  a  Sweating  Com- 
mittee and  the  terrible  revelations  of  poverty  contained 
in  that  document. 

Here  the  House  of  Commons  had  a  touch  of  the 
real  Lloyd  George  whom  they  were  fro  get  to  know 
so  well  in  the  future.  It  was  for  this  that  he  had  come 
to  Westminster;  not  for  conventional  party  speeches, 
but  for  plain  homely  utterance  on  the  pomps  and  con- 
ventions and  extravagances  of  the  great  world.  Here 
we  get  a  first  hint  of  his  mission:  a  difficult  and  even 
cruel  mission — to  tell  the  comfortable  and  wealthy  that 
they  were  living  on  the  poor — to  tell  the  decorative 
that  they  must  be  decorative  no  longer,  but  must  either 
be  useful  or  come  down  from  their  high  places.  He 
knew  that  such  talk  was  not  going  to  be  popular  in  the 


FIRST  SKIRMISHES  93 

House  of  Commons,  but  he  was  looking  to  another 
quarter  for  approval.  Writing  in  his  diary  the  day 
before  delivering  the  speech  on  Prince  Henry  of  Prus- 
sia's Garter  he  made  the  following  significant  entry : 

"My  audience  is  the  country." 

It  was  to  the  country,  indeed,  that  he  was  already 
making  his  chief  appeal.  His  biggest  efforts  of  this 
year  were  made  outside  the  House  of  Commons.  The 
first  was  made  on  May  7th  at  the  Metropolitan  Taber- 
nacle, where  the  Liberal  Party  appeared  in  full  force 
to  support  Welsh  Disestablishment.  He  prepared  his 
speech  with  the  utmost  care.  He  sent  notes  of  it  down 
to  his  uncle  at  Criccieth  and  received  the  comments  and 
criticisms  of  the  "Esgob" — the  "Bishop" — as  he  loved 
to  call  Richard  Lloyd. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  perhaps  a  little  humanly 
disappointed  when  he  discovered  that,  graded  by  party 
officialism,  he  had  been  given  the  lowest  place  in  the 
list  of  speakers  at  the  Tabernacle.  But  this  was  soon 
forgotten  when  he  once  got  into  his  stride.  Although 
the  audience  had  been  dismally  thinned  by  a  succession 
of  dreary  orations,  they  sat  out  his  speech  to  the  end. 
He  had  intended  to  go  on  for  only  five  or  ten  minutes : 
but  the  cheering  and  laughter  of  his  audience  carried 
him  on  for  twenty-five.  This  was  the  very  thing — 
here  was  a  man  to  whom  Welsh  Disestablishment  was 
an  actual  life  issue,  and  not  a  mere  new  item  in  a  party 
programme.  When  at  last  he  sat  down,  the  audience 
seemed  surprised.  Like  a  wise  man,  he  left  them  un- 
satisfied, and  the  result  was  that  the  public  soon  de- 
manded more. 

After  this  success  he  was  deluged  with  requests  for 


94  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

speeches  in  every  part  of  England.  But  wisely  he  ac- 
cepted few.  He  decided  to  stick  closely  to  his  Hous« 
of  Commons  work,  and  there  is  no  sounder  course  for 
any  young  Member  of  Parliament.  The  result  was 
that  at  the  end  of  this  first  session  of  1890  he  had 
already  secured  a  good  parliamentary  footing. 

It  may  be  taken  that  the  transition  to  Parliament 
from  North  Wales  was  by  no  means  an  easy  domestic 
revolution  for  a  struggling  young  provincial  solicitor 
who  had  only  just  begun  to  earn  an  income. 

Politics  did  not  come  to  him,  indeed,  with  such  a 
crushing  burden  as  it  brings  to  many  young  men. 
The  total  expenses  of  this,  his  first  election, 
were  little  more  than  £200.  He  definitely  refused  the 
offer  of  his  political  friends  to  raise  a  fund  to  cover 
his  election  expenses.  But  he  accepted  gratefully  the 
unpaid  help  of  several  friendly  lawyers  at  Bangor  and 
Carnarvon  as  his  election  agents.  In  his  later  elections 
the  Liberal  Association  of  the  Boroughs  covered  his 
expenses.  The  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire;  and 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  had  wisely  accepted  the  offer.  To 
that  arrangement  the  Association  adhered  until  the 
time  when  he  entered  a  Ministry  (1906) — thus  creat- 
ing one  of  the  finest  ties  that  can  exist  between  a  con- 
stituency and  its  member.  Here,  at  any  rate,  was  a 
member  who  was  a  public  servant  and  not  a  public 
almoner. 

But  in  spite  of  that  great  public  aid  the  entrance  of 
David  Lloyd  George  into  Parliament  proved  a  great 
and  growing  strain  on  the  young  couple.  Their  eldest 
child  Dick  1  was  already  fifteen  months  old  when  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  came  into  Parliament.  The  growing 

1  Now  Major  Richard  Lloyd  George. 


FIRST  SKIRMISHES  95 

practice  at  Portmadoc  had  to  be  left  during  the  Session 
to  his  brother,  Mr.  William  George,  whose  splendid 
self-sacrifice  and  high  public  spirit  have  always  fortified 
and  entrenched  the  private  fortunes  of  his  elder 
brother.  While  profits  diminished,  new  expenses  grew. 
A  domicile  had  to  be  secured  in  London.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lloyd  George  settled  down  first  (1890)  in  a  flat 
in  Gray's  Inn,  then  (1891)  in  the  Temple,  and,  later 
on,  for  six  years  (1893-9)  in  Palace  Mansions,  Ken- 
sington. There  they  set  up  a  simple  house,  always 
open  to  their  many  friends.  For  from  the  beginning 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  .always  the  most  hospitable  of 
men. 

For  the  first  year  or  two  of  his  parliamentary  life 
he  continued  to  practice  in  North  Wales  during  the 
recess  and  to  live  during  the  autumn  months  at  Cric- 
cieth  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Owen,  his  parents-in-law.1 

On  these  returns  to  his  native  soil  he  continued  to 
use  his  legal  position  for  those  daring  assertions  of 
popular  right  which  had  become  his  passion.  At 
this  time,  indeed,  occurred -one  of  the  boldest  of  these 
incidents,  when  he  faced  Mr.  Casson,  the  very  lawyer 
to  whom  he  had  been  .articled.  That  able  provincial 
attorney  had  concentrated  in  his  hands  all  those  secular 
offices  which  combine  to  make  a  genuine  social  tyranny. 
He  was  at  once  Clerk  to  the  Justices  and  agent  to  the 
Tremadoc  estate,  which  practically  covered  the  whole 
district.  As  agent  to  the  estate,  he  had  allowed  some 
of  the  houses  in  Portmadoc  to  fall  into  grave  disrepair. 
At  last  the  thing  became  a  scandal.  The  Urban  Dis- 

*At  first  on  the  farm,  and  later  in  Criccieth.  Mr.  Owen  built 
there  two  semi-detached  houses,  Llys  Owen  and  Brynawel,  and  there 
the  Owens  and  the  Lloyd  Georges  lived  for  some  years  next  door 
to  one  another. 


96  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

trict  Council  had  to  take  action ;  and  they  instructed  Mr. 
William  George. 

Complaint  was  in  vain;  it  was  soon  necessary  to 
prosecute.  But  the  summons  against  Mr.  Casson  the 
agent  could  only  be  issued  by  Mr.  Casson  the  Clerk 
of  the  Justices :  and  Mr.  Casson  the  Clerk  of  the  Jus- 
tices refused  to  issue  it.  He  seemed  safely  protected 
by  his  own  loyalty  to  himself. 

Not  an  unusual  incident  in  our  happy  countryside, 
in  England  as  well  as  in  Wales;  but  Mr.  David  Lloyd 
George  there  and  then  determined  that  it  should  not 
occur  again  in  Portmadoc. 

Mr.  William  George  reported  the  situation  to  his 
brother,  who  said,  "Leave  this  to  me."  Next  day  he 
went  into  court.  He  began  by  challenging  the  bench. 
For  one  cause  or  another  he  was  able  to  disqualify 
all  the  magistrates  except  a  schoolmaster  and  a  bank 
manager,  men  of  open  minds.  To  them  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  then  began  to  denounce  Mr.  Casson  with  merci- 
less vigour  for  a  whole  hour.  He  lashed  him  ruth- 
lessly for  his  misuse  of  his  powers.  He  demanded  that 
he  should  sit  where  every  other  culprit  had  to  sit — in 
the  dock. 

Mr.  Casson  did  not  remain  quiet  under  these  lashes. 
He  protested  and  interrupted  for  a  time,  but  was  at 
last  quelled  by  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  attack.  Then  he 
subsided  into  silence  until  the  magistrates  sternly  or- 
dered the  issue  of  the  necessary  summonses.  The  re- 
sult was  that  the  dangerously  crumbling  walls  com- 
plained of  by  the  Urban  Council  were  put  in  a  state  of 
safety  for  the  public. 

I     When  Mr.  Lloyd  George  opened  this  scene  the  court 
was  almost  empty;  but  in  a  few  minutes  the  public  out- 


FIRST  SKIRMISHES  97 

side  had  seemed  to  get  wind  of  what  was  happening. 
Long  before  the  attack  ended  the  court  was  crowded 
with  people  who  made  no  attempt  to  conceal  their  ap- 
proval. To  this  day  Portmadoc  will  tell  you  that  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  never  did  a  more  necessary  piece  of 
work,  or  did  it  more  thoroughly,  than  on  this  notable 
day. 

It  is  not  remarkable  that,  feeling  these  powers  grow- 
ing within  him,  he  should  have  thought  seriously  at  this 
time  of  being  called  to  the  English  Bar.  His  friend 
Samuel  Evans  urged  this  on  him.  He  put  his  name 
down.  But  at  that  point  some  rare  strain  of  diffidence 
held  him  back — some  instinctive  shrinking.  At  any 
rate,  he  never  carried  the  matter  further;  but  went  on 
attempting  to  combine  with  his  parliamentary  duties 
the  conduct  of  his  solicitor's  practice  at  Portmadoc. 

But  he  could  not  go  on  permanently  with  this  double 
strain.  More  and  more  the  public  demanded  speeches 
from  him  in  the  autumns ;  and  he  had  less  and  less  time 
for  work  at  Portmadoc.  In  May  1897  he  sent  for  his 
friend  Arthur  Rhys  Roberts,  a  solicitor  who  was  prac- 
tising at  Newport  in  South  Wales.  He  asked  him  to 
join  him  in  starting  an  office  in  London.  They  took 
rooms  in  13,  Walbrook,  E.G.,1  where  they  opened  with 
no  prospects  except  the  vague  promises  of  friends;  and 
for  the  first  three  years  David  Lloyd  George  gave  a 
great  deal  of  time  to  this  venture.  He  went  to  the 
office  every  morning  and  to  the  House  in  the  after- 
noons. He  worked  hard  for  the  firm.  He  wrote  all 
important  letters;  he  conducted  all  important  inter- 

1  In  1900  they  shifted  to  63,  Queen  Victoria  Street,  E.G.,  which  is 
now  the  office  of  the  firm  of  Rhys  Roberts  &  Co.,  as  it  has  been  called 
since  Mr.  Lloyd  George  severed  his  connection  with  it  after  taking 
Government  office. 


98  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

views — often  at  the  House  of  Commons.  He  was  still 
a  partner  at  Criccieth,  and  thus  for  a  time  he  main- 
tained a  double  position  in  the  law — the  partner  in 
two  firms.  But  Criccieth  counted  less  and  less,  and 
gradually  passed  entirely  into  the  hands  of  his  brother. 

He  earned  a  fair  income;  but  it  was  a  hard  life,  and 
he  had  to  supplement  it  with  journalistic  work  for 
Welsh  papers  and  for  the  Manchester  Guardian.  He 
was  quite  a  vigorous  writer  in  those  days.  The  burden 
was  heavy.  But  he  had  beside  him  the  great  courage 
and  thrift  of  his  wife,  and  behind  him  the  high  and 
splendid  spirit  of  his  "Uncle  Lloyd." 

His  life  in  those  early  days  was  full  and  serene, 
crowded  with  work  and  play.  The  children  began  to  fill 
his  quiver — Dick,  Mair,  Olwen,  Gwilym — those  young 
voices  that  speak  with  our  enemies  in  the  gate.  He 
loved  children;  and  he  loved  life.  He  was  already  sur- 
rounded with  friends,  and  especially  with  that  bright 
band  of  young  Welshmen  who  were  gathering  to  West- 
minster— Tom  Ellis,  Herbert  Lewis,  Frank  Edwards, 
Sam  Evans,  Llewellyn  Williams.  So  girt,  he  ever  took 
life  "with  a  frolic  welcome." 

His  was  a  spirit  welded  of  laughter  and  tears, 
moulded  for  great  adventures.  He  learnt  even  in 
those  early  days  the  great  art  of  varying  grave  with 
gay.  But  then,  as  now,  the  gay  never  took  the  place 
first.  It  was  always  there  as  a  servant  rather  than 
master — a  foil  to  grave  endeavour;  a  background  to 
serious  purposes. 

He  had,  of  course,  those  little  weaknesses  that  re- 
quire the  forgiveness  of  affection.  He  could  always, 
when  he  wished,  write  letters  with  the  best — especially 
when  letters  were  really  required  for  business  or  af- 


FIRST  SKIRMISHES  99 

fairs.  But  he  would  not  write  the  small  letters,  or 
answer  the  small  letters.  He  was  not  very  precise  over 
social  engagements.  He  was  always  more  faithful  to 
his  humble  friends  than  to  the  great  and  fashionable; 
and  he  sometimes  forgot  Gilbert's  great  discovery — 
that  even  Belgrave  Square  has  a  heart  behind  its  stucco. 

Behind  all  the  colour  and  zest  of  his  young,  eager 
life  there  was  always  that  same  quality  of  courage  that 
knit  his  character  like  an  iron  girder.  He  had  a  serene 
confidence  in  his  own  star.  He  did  not  know  the  word 
"impossible."  The  greater  the  obstacle  the  greater  his 
security  of  success.  It  was  this  note  that  dominated  his 
thought  and  speech. 

But,  after  all,  it  was  at  those  gatherings  of  his 
friends,  when  the  pipes  were  lit  and  the  laughter  rang 
free,  that  the  true  Lloyd  George  was  to  be  seen  and 
heard — the  Lloyd  George  who  has  since  won  the  hearts 
of  nations.  Those  were  wonderful  meetings  of  young 
souls  at  that  little  flat  in  Kensington.  How  that  sym- 
phony of  laughter  and  speech  rings  across  the  years, 
the  echo  of  those  grave  debates  of  youth  in  which, 
thJough  we  knew  it  not,  opinions  were  moulding  and  a 
will  forming  which,  in  the  coming  time,  were  to  fashion 
and  shake  the  world! 


CHAPTER  VIII 

PITCHED  BATTLES 

"Though  it  appear  a  little  out  of  fashion, 

There  is  much  care  and  valour  in  this  Welshman." 

SHAKESPEARE'S  Henry  V ,  Act  I,  Sc.  iv. 

DAVID  LLOYD  GEORGE  had  gone  to  Parliament  as  a 
Welsh  Nationalist;  and,  as  the  months  passed,  it  be- 
came clear  that  the  task  of  moulding  and  defending  the 
new  national  cause  in  Wales  would  absorb  his  main 
energies. 

It  was  not  a  popular  task  at  Westminster,  where  it 
cut  right  across  the  party  divisions.  It  was  not  even  yet 
wholly  an  easy  task  in  Wales,  where  the  old  spirit  of 
feudalism  had  many  strongholds  and  was  still  "an 
unconscionable  time  in  dying." 

Throughout  the  following  years  (1892—7)  David 
Lloyd  George  had  to  fight  a  double  battle — at  West- 
minster and  in  Wales.  At  Westminster  he  took  the 
lead  of  a  small  group  of  Welsh  members — often  only 
four — who  greatly  dared  to  put  the  cause  of  Wales 
before  the  cause  of  party — never  an  easy  task  in  a 
House  where  the  party  system  is  the  very  oxygen  of 
the  political  atmosphere.  On  all  great  public  ques- 
tions that  arose  in  those  years — tithes,  free  schooling, 
local  option,  clergy  discipline — he  steadily  and  daringly 
pursued  the  national  course  and  built  up  a  national 
policy. 

100 


PITCHED  BATTLES  101 

The  influence  that  kept  him  straight  on  this  course 
came  ever  from  his  own  native  soil.  For  he  was  in 
daily  touch  with  that  faithful  little  family  group — 
those  four  loyal  souls — his  uncle,  his  brother,  his  sister, 
and  his  mother — who  kept  for  him,  while  he  battled  in 
London,  the  fires  burning  on  the  home  hearth,  helped 
his  wife  by  looking  after  the  children  in  moments  of 
stress,  and  steadily  aided  him  with  counsel  and  inspira- 
tion. David  wrote  to  that  little  family  party  a  daily 
record  of  his  doings ;  and  day  by  day  Uncle  Lloyd  wrote 
to  his  "Di"  long  letters,  partly  in  Welsh,  partly  in 
English,  advising  him  on  every  question  that  arose,  al- 
ways taking  the  bold  side,  always  bringing  his  nephew 
back  to  the  goals  of  his  pilgrimage — faith  and  father- 
land. "Land  of  our  Fathers"  was  the  key-phrase  in 
Uncle  Lloyd's  politics;  and,  amid  the  stress  and  dis- 
traction of  Westminster,  his  boy  was  never  allowed,  for 
a  single  day,  to  miss  hearing  that  clear  call  from  the 
Eagle  mountains. 

Here  was  the  source  of  his  strength  in  the  strug- 
gles that  now  lay  before  him,  calling  for  the  utmost 
exercise  of  will  and  decision.  For,  if  the  Welsh  cause 
was  to  be  kept  to  the  front,  it  was  necessary  to  fight 
continually  against  the  submerging  influence  of  the 
party  machines. 

The  most  remarkable  among  these  contests  of  the 
early  nineties  was  undoubtedly  that  memorable  fight 
undertaken  by  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  a  small  band  of 
Welsh  fellow-members  against  Mr.  Gladstone  in  the 
zenith  of  his  power  and  frame  over  the  Clergy 
Discipline  Bill. 

The  Bill  seemed  a  very  innocent  and  reasonable 
measure.  It  aimed  at  strengthening  the  control  of 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
RIVERSIDE 


102  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

the  Anglican  Bishops — always  weak  enough — over 
their  clergy.  To  Englishmen  reasonable  enough;  but 
not  so  to  Welshmen,  to  whom  the  very  word  "Bishop" 
was  almost  as  hateful  a  sound  as  to  the  Presbyterian 
Scotch.  Not  until  the  Bishops  released  their  hold  on 
Wales  would  they  consent  to  give  them  a  stronger  hold 
over  their  own  clergy. 

Now  the  Bill  happened  to  be  a  very  special  favourite 
of  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  still  loved  his  Church  with  a 
mighty  love,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  was  at  that  moment  a 
very  formidable  opponent.  It  is  difficult  now  to  realise 
the  power  of  his  authority  at  that  moment.  The  Lib- 
erals who  had  remained  faithful  to  him  regarded  him 
with  a  loyalty  that  amounted  to  a  passion.  To  dis- 
pute his.  word  would  seem  to  them  the  nearest  secular 
approach  to  heresy  or  sacrilege.  It  was  that  spirit 
that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  dared  to  defy. 

It  was  a  sight  for  the  gods  to  see  those  young  Welsh- 
men, night  after  night,  facing  the  Grand  Old  Man. 
There  he  sat,  almost  alone  on  the  Front  Opposition 
Bench,  battling  against  those  eager  young  members. 
He  took  them  very  seriously.  He  argued  with  them, 
pleaded  with  them,  rebuked  them.  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
thoroughly  enjoyed  the  experience.  "Ah!  But  he  is  a 
great  debater!"  he  would  say.  But  one  thing  he  never 
forgot — the  Grand  Old  Man's  eye.  He  has  often  said 
that  to  face  that  eye  in  anger  was  one  of  the  most  try- 
ing experiences  in  his  parliamentary  life.  Years  after, 
when  some  of  us  were  discussing  the  points  of  likeness 
between  the  Grand  Old  Man  and  that  gallant  grandson 
who  so  splendidly  gave  his  life  for  his  country,  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  suddenly  burst  out:  "Ah!  But  he  has 
not  got  the  Old  Man's  terrible  eye!" 


PITCHED  BATTLES  103 

Mr.  Gladstone  pursued  the  matter  to  the  end.  He 
took  a  seat  on  the  Grand  Committee  that  was  to  con- 
sider the  Bill.  He  and  Mr.  Lloyd  George  fought  the 
matter  out.  It  was  only  towards  the  end  that  Mr. 
Gladstone  realised  one  day  that  his  own  speeches  were 
prolonging  the  fight;  and  then  the  Old  Man  would  sit 
glaring  at  the  impudent  youngsters  in  speechless  anger. 

But  Mr.  Gladstone  bore  no  grudges  against  a  good 
fighter  who  stood  up  for  his  own  honest  faith ;  and  some 
years  afterwards,  when  he  met  Mr.  Lloyd  George  at 
Sir  Edward  Watkin's  house  on  the  slopes  of  Snowdon, 
he  made  a  special  point  of  singling  him  out  for  special 
friendly  speech. 

Such  revolts  did  not  make  Mr.  Lloyd  George  more 
popular  with  the  orthodox  English  Liberals.  But 
things  were  to  become  worse  before  they  became  better. 
In  the  years  1892—5  came  that  great  and  prolonged 
contention  between  the  Welsh  members  and  the  English 
machine  over  the  position  of  Welsh  Disestablishment 
among  the  Liberal  fighting  measures.  In  that  conten- 
tion Mr.  Lloyd  George  took  a  leading  part. 

Welsh  Disestablishment  in  Wales,  ever  since  1868, 
had  taken  the  same  position  and  grown  to  the  same 
power  as  the  Home  Rule  Movement  in  Ireland.  The 
Welsh  was  a  Nationalist  movement  in  a  religious  dress. 
But  English  Liberalism  had  been  chilly  towards  this 
movement,  and  treated  it  with  scant  favour.  Mr.  Glad- 
stone opposed  it  in  1870,  and  it  was  only  in  1891  that 
he  first  supported  it,  and  allowed  it  a  place  in  the  fa- 
mous Newcastle  Programme.  But  so  greatly  was  the 
Liberal  Party  absorbed  in  the  Home  Rule  struggle 
that  in  1892-3  the  Welsh  cause  slipped  back  and  the 
Liberals  showed  a  definite  tendency  to  shelve  it. 


104  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

It  was  at  that  moment  that  that  small  group  of  young 
Welshmen  again  stepped  forward  and  definitely  de- 
manded that  Welsh  Disestablishment  should  be  carried 
through  the  House  of  Commons  and  sent  up  to  the 
House  of  Lords. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  the  leader  of  this  revolt; 
and  for  those  two  years  he  conducted  it  with  a  ruthless 
persistence  which  galled  and  embittered  the  Liberals, 
wearied  by  the  great  fatigues  of  the  Home  Rule  strug- 
gle. For  it  was  precisely  in  1893,  just  after  the  great 
disappointment  of  the  rejection  of  the  Home  Rule 
Bill  by  the  House  of  Lords,  that  he  roused  the  whole 
of  Wales  to  demand  the  production  of  the  Welsh  Dis- 
establishment Bill. 

There  followed  one  of  those  intense  sectional  strug- 
gles which  in  our  party  system  are  largely  veiled  from 
public  view,  but  are  none  the  less  bitter  for  that. 

Those  of  us  English  Liberals  who  were  actual  spec- 
tators of  the  battle  certainly  regarded  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  as  far  from  reasonable.  We  were  looking  at 
the  matter  from  the  angle  of  English  Liberalism.  His 
was  the  angle  of  Welsh  Nationalism.  Those  angles 
sometimes  crossed. 

Mr.  Gladstone  resigned  on  March  ist,  1894;  and 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  instantly  demanded  of  the  new  Gov- 
ernment that  the  Welsh  Disestablishment  Bill  should 
be  carried  through  the  Commons  in  1894,  unless  they 
were  prepared  immediately  to  take  up  the  struggle  with 
the  Lords,  in  which  case  he  was  prepared  to  forego 
the  claim  of  Wales  based  on  the  Newcastle  Resolution 
to  legislative  attention  immediately  after  the  Home 
Rule  Bill. 

The  harassed  Liberals — sensitive  from  weakening 


PITCHED  BATTLES  105 

vitality — struggled  on  their  bed  of  torture.  Sir  Wil- 
liam Harcourt,  the  new  leader  in  the  Commons,  at  first 
refused.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  pursued  his  offensive  with 
a  fierce  attack  at  Holywell.  Then  came  Mr.  Asquith 
with  a  vague  speech  at  Plymouth;  and  at  last  on  April 
26th,  1894,  the  Disestablishment  Bill  was  introduced. 
Again  came  delay.  But  the  revolt  went  steadily  for- 
ward; and  the  unhappy  Government,  with  its  dwindling 
majority,  squirmed  like  some  victim  under  the  mediaeval 
torture  of  the  peine  forte  et  dure. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Session  of  1895  the  Rosebery 
Government  were  perforce  obliged  to  push  the  Dises- 
tablishment Bill  forward.  It  was  carried  by  a  majority 
of  44  on  April  ist,  1 895.  But  yielding  brought  no  peace. 
The  Government  was  forced  to  pass  the  Bill  through 
Committee;  and  during  that  stage  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
and  his  friends  fiercely  pressed  certain  nationalist 
amendments  which  the  Government  reluctantly  accept- 
ed. These  convulsions  proved  too  much  for  a  sick  Min- 
istry. On  August  nth,  1895,  while  the  Welshmen  were 
away  in  Wales  devising  new  measures  of  torture,  the 
Rosebery  Administration  fell  over  the  "cordite  vote." 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  fiercely  attacked  by  orthodox 
Liberals  for  his  conduct  in  this  affair.  He  was  roundly 
accused  of  hastening  the  downfall  of  the  Government. 
He  answered  by  saying  that  the  Government  was  al- 
ready doomed  from  internal  dissensions. 

But  in  Wales  his  attitude  was  greeted  with  acclaim; 
and  in  the  General  Election  that  followed,  he  was  able 
to  defeat  Mr.  Ellis  Nanney  once  more  with  a  majority 
practically  identical  with  that  of  I892.1 

1 194  votes  as  against  196  in  1892,  when  he  defeated  Sir  John  Pules- 
ton,  the  popular  Tory  champion. 


106  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

The  reason  was  clear.  The  Welsh  now  cared  more 
for  their  own  causes  than  for  the  causes  of  the  Liberal 
Party.  The  spirit  of  nationalism  had  spread  from 
Ireland  to  Wales.  They  cared  nothing  for  the  Rose- 
bery  Government.  They  did  not  believe  that  the  Com- 
mons could  any  longer  legislate — not  until  the  Lords 
were  fought  and  crushed.  What  they  were  looking  to 
was  that  the  future  claims  of  Wales  should  be  pegged 
out  as  clearly  as  the  claims  of  Ireland. 

It  was  for  that  spirit  that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  stood 
now  in  Wales. 

Not  that,  even  in  Wales,  the  victory  of  Welsh  na- 
tionalism was  achieved  without  a  struggle.  During 
these  years  (1893—7)  parallel  with  his  activities  at 
Westminster,  David  Lloyd  George  was  engaged  in  a 
great  campaign  within  Wales  itself.  It  was  a  cam- 
paign for  unity  and  concentration. 

He  found  in  1892  the  political  energies  of  Wales 
divided  between  a  number  of  purely  party  organisa- 
tions, precisely  after  the  fashion  of  England.  Parlia- 
ment Street  had  carved  up  the  Welsh  counties  in  the 
same  spirit  and  method  as  Canterbury  had  carved  up 
the  Welsh  dioceses.  There  were  the  North  Wales 
Federation  and  the  South  Wales  Federation,  and  a 
number  of  other  similar  bodies,  with  all  the  various 
staffs  and  camp-followers  who  find  their  meat  and  malt 
in  local  distinctions  and  differences.  The  worst  of  it 
was  that  these  local  divisions  often  blazed  up  into 
national  divergences  on  points  of  policy. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  were  simultaneously  grow- 
ing up  among  the  younger  generation  of  Wales  a  vast 
number  of  common  national  organisations  and  societies, 


PITCHED  BATTLES  107 

literary,  social,  and  political.  There  was  the  same  fer- 
ment that  we  have  of  late  years  seen  in  Ireland — the 
ferment  of  a  new  national  growth,  shown  in  language, 
literature,  and  even  in  costume.  There  was  the  Cymru 
Fydd  ("Wales  of  the  Future"),  the  Cymmrodorion, 
and,  above  all,  the  revived  Eisteddfod,  that  remarkable 
annual  Welsh  festival  of  poetry  and  song  which  seems 
to  combine  the  spirit  of  classical  Greece  and  of  Celtic 
Britain. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  aspired  to  bring  into  Welsh  poli- 
tics some  of  the  strength  and  hope  of  this  new  national 
rebirth. 

His  definite  aim,  in  the  long  series  of  great  orations 
which  he  delivered  on  this  subject  between  1889  and 
1896,  was  to  bring  patriotism  to  the  help  of  Welsh 
politics  in  place  of  party — 

"The  spirit  of  patriotism  has  been  like  the 
genie  of  Arabian  fable.  It  has  burst  asunder 
the  prison  doors  and  given  freedom  to  them  that 
were  oppressed.  It  has  transformed  the  wilder- 
ness into  a  garden  and  the  hovel  into  a  home."  l 

It  was  his  aim  that  the  same  spirit  should  transform 
Wales. 

A  simple  aim,  it  would  seem.  But  no  sooner  did  he 
set  finger  on  the  various  political  Arks  that  had  been 
set  up  for  worship  in  the  different  competing  capitals 
of  Wales  than  he  found  himself  faced  with  the  fiercest 
hostility.  Among  his  bitterest  opponents  was  one  of 
his  own  followers  in  the  House,  Mr.  D.  A.  Thomas 
(afterwards  Lord  Rhondda).  Mr.  Thomas  set  him- 

1  October  1894. 


108  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

self  up  as  the  champion  of  the  South  Wales  Federa-, 
tion;  and  he  succeeded  in  maintaining  the  cause  of  local 
independence. 

So  tense  and  prolonged  was  the  struggle  that  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  was  content  in  the  end  to  achieve  his  pur- 
poses in  another  way,  by  way  of  a  Welsh  National 
Council.  "A  rose  by  any  other  name  will  smell  as 
sweet" — that  is  an  important  thing  to^remember  in  poli- 
tics. Mr.  Lloyd  George  has  never  forgotten  it. 

Here,  in  Wales,  was  evidently  a  case  of  nationalism 
only  slowly  struggling  into  consciousness,  with  many 
forces  still  to  contend  against.  But  if  we  take  a  long 
survey,  and  cast  our  eyes  over  the  last  half-century 
(1867-1920)  how  great  is  the  contrast !  Then  (1867) 
there  was  a  Wales  almost  entirely  subject  to  its  feudal 
chiefs,  scarcely  daring  to  assert  its  own  language  or 
nationality.  Now  (1920)  there  is  a  Wales  returning 
an  almost  unbroken  national  party,  and  a  majority  of 
Welsh-speaking  members. 

In  this  great  change  David  Lloyd  George  played  a 
leading  part. 

The  division  between  Welsh  Nationalism  and  British 
Liberalism  did  not  last  long.  British  Liberalism,  es- 
sentially in  sympathy  with  Nationalism,  soon  forgave 
Mr.  Lloyd  George.  Welsh  Nationalism,  always  es- 
sentially Liberal,  soon  made  its  peace  again  with  Liber- 
alism. 

It  was  during  the  struggles  of  1896—9  that  the  recon- 
ciliation came.  Then  in  the  great  parliamentary  strife 
over  the  Agricultural  Rates  Bill  and  the  Voluntary 
Schools  Bill,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  first  showed  his  mettle 
as  a  leader  of  parliamentary  guerillas.  Nay,  more.  At 


PITCHED  BATTLES  109 

the  moment  when  British  Liberalism  was  bereft  of 
leadership  he  gave  it  a  lead.  That  was  the  great  point. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George's  great  fight  against  the  Agricul- 
tural Rates  Bill  in  1896  marked,  indeed,  his  first  great 
advance  towards  an  assured  parliamentary  position.  It 
was  the  first  of  the  measures  put  forward  by  our 
Agrarians  for  the  special  relief  of  agriculture  from  the 
misfortunes  which  had  befallen  them  in  the  seventies 
and  the  eighties.  A  small  affair  as  compared  with  later 
proposals;  but  Mr.  Lloyd  George  conceived  against  it 
an  implacable  hatred.  It  was  not  the  relief  that  he 
hated;  but  he  argued  that  under  our  land  system  the 
money  would  all  go  finally  into  the  pockets  of  the  land- 
lords. He  believed  this  sincerely;  and  he  fought  a 
great  fight  against  the  whole  proposal. 

The  struggle  went  on  through  the  early  months  of 
the  Session  of  1896.  The  Unionists  at  first  took  it 
lightly;  then  they  grew  angry.  Here,  it  seemed,  was 
a  man  who  must  really  be  reckoned  with.  This  little 
Welsh  attorney,  this  chapel-trained  Nonconformist, 
actually  seemed  to  know  a  thing  or  two  about  the  sacred 
land  system  of  these  islands.  He  could  not  be  ignored. 
His  pertinacity  and  resourcefulness  seemed  to  be  in- 
exhaustible. The  fight  went  on  from  day  to  day,  and 
there  seemed  no  end. 

On  May  2ist  the  Government  moved  and  the  Chair- 
man accepted  the  "block"  closure  on  the  vital  clause  of 
the  Bill — Clause  four. 

When  the  Chairman  called  the  House  to  go  into  the 
division  lobbies  it  was  seen  that  a  little  group  of  mem- 
bers were  sitting  still  on  their  seats,  refusing  to  move. 
They  were  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  Mr.  Herbert  Lewis, 
backed  by  a  little  group  of  sympathetic  Irishmen — Mr. 


110  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

John  Dillon,  Dr.  Tanner,  and  Mr.  Donald  Sullivan — 
and  by  one  Radical — Sir  John  Brunncr. 

"I  must  request  honourable  members  to  procetd  to 
the  division  lobbies,"  said  the  Chairman. 

"I  decline  to  go  out  under  the  circumstances,"  said 
Mr.  Lloyd  George,  speaking  with  his  hat  on,  as  in  duty 
bound. 

It  was  a  new  event.  The  Chairman  was  puzzled 
what  to  do.  So  he  called  the  House  back,  summoned 
the  Speaker — then  Mr.  Gully — from  his  repose,  and 
reported  to  him  what  had  happened. 

"Do  I  understand,"  said  the  Speaker  sternly  to  Mr. 
Lloyd  George,  "that  you  refuse  to  clear  the  House?" 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  quite  unshaken  by  all  this 
awful  panoply  of  parliamentary  terrorism. 

"That  is  so,  sir,"  said  he;  "as  a  protest,  I  declined 
to  go  out." 

Then  came  the  turn  of  that  valiant  and  faithful  soul 
— the  Fidus  Achates  of  our  ^Eneas — Mr.  Herbert 
Lewis.  Did  he  too — so  quiet  and  dutiful — refuse  to 
go  out? 

"I  regard  this  Bill,  sir,  as  legalised  robbery,"  he 
said  with  a  sudden  outburst  of  honest  vehemence. 

After  that  there  was  nothing  more  to  be  said.  The 
sacrilegious  word  had  been  spoken,  and  it  was  time  for 
the  high-priests  of  the  temple  to  act.  So  the  Leader  of 
the  House  moved  the  suspension  of  these  wicked  men 
— the  House  voted. the  suspension  by  209  to  58 — and 
the  Speaker  called  on  them  to  withdraw.  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  cheerfully  rose  to  obey. 

"For  how  long,  sir?"  he  asked  the  Speaker,  with 
the  spirit  of  a  schoolboy  making  sure  of  his  holiday. 


PITCHED  BATTLES  111 

"For  a  week,"  said  the  Speaker;  and  they  all  with- 
drew.1 

But  the  week  was  to  be  well  used.  The  rebel  went 
off  immediately  into  Wales  and  was  received  with  ac- 
clamation. The  grey  veterans  of  the  Welsh  Party  in 
the  House  had  shaken  their  heads.  But  the  Welsh 
people  knew  better.  They  realised  the  value  of  a 
dramatic  protest. 

There  were  others  who  knew  better  even  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  Sir  William  Harcourt,  always  a 
great  parliamentary  leader,  recognised  in  a  moment 
that  there  was  stuff  in  this  new  fighter.  "My  little 
Welsh  attorney,"  he  said  to  me  once,  "is  worth  the  pack 
of  them." 

"My  audience  is  the  country" — that  was  still  the 
clue  to  all  "Mr.  Lloyd  George's  parliamentary  actions. 
He  and  Mr.  Herbert  Lewis  "stumped"  through  Wales, 
rousing  the  people.  That  week's  holiday  bade  fair  to 
cost  the  Government  dear. 

The  English  people  were  not  far  behind  the  Welsh 
in  their  applause.  He  was  now  fighting  a  battle  in 
which  not  Wales  only  but  the  whole  country  was  con- 
cerned. Invitations  to  speak  showered  in  from  all  over 
England. 

It  is,  indeed,  from  this  period  (1896-7)  that  we 
must  date  a  very  important  and  vital  development  in 
Mr.  Lloyd  George's  career.  The  guerilla  warfare 
which  he  opened  in  this  year  was  carried  on  by  him  over 
the  Voluntary  Schools  Bill  of  1897  and  the  Tithes  Bill 
of  1899.  But  from  a  "guerilla"  he  was  gradually  de- 
veloping into  a  leader  of  Parliament.  Instead  of  his. 

'These  details  are  based  on  contemporary  impressions  and  verified 
from  Hansard. 


THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

V,  following  the  Front  Bench,  it  was  the  Front  Bench  that 
began  to  follow  him  I 

For  it  was  a  moment  of  deplorable  strife  and  weak- 
ness in  the  Liberal  leadership.  Lord  Rosebery  had  re- 
signed over  Armenia  in  1896,  and  both  Sir  William 
Harcourt  and  Mr.  Morley  resigned  over  Fashoda  in 
1898.  The  throne  was  constantly  being  vacated;  and 
Sir  Henry  Campbell-Bannerman,  who  succeeded  to  the 
purple,  seemed  at  that  time  only  a  "stop-gap,"  with 
Mr.  Asquith  as  the  real  and  only  successor. 

The  country  was  weary  of  these  personal  issues;  and 
they  turned  with  refreshment  to  the  little  warrior  below 
the  gangway  who,  at  any  rate,  seemed  to  care  for  the 
cause  more  than  for  himself.  During  those  years  it 
was  he  who  checked  the  Tory  ascendancy;  and  it  was 
largely  owing  to  his  vigour  and  vehemence  that  in 
1897—8  the  tide  began  to  turn  in  the  country  and  the 
by-elections  began  to  go  against  the  Government — a 
landslide  that  was  only  stopped  by  the  outbreak  of 
the  South  African  War  in  1899. 

In  1896—7,  then,  came  the  critical  new  departure  in 
the  career  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George.  Up  to  1895  he  had 
seemed  to  be  a  Welsh  Nationalist  pure  and  simple — 
that  and  nothing  more.  It  looked  then,  indeed,  as  if 
he  might  become  the  Parnell  of  Wales — a  Parnell  of 
a  different  kind  both  in  speech  and  character,  but  like 
him  in  his  sole  devotion  to  a  national  cause — a  Parnell 
in  the  sense  of  a  leader  of  a  national  revolt. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  gave  to  Wales  the  opening  call. 
But  Wales  was  not  ready  for  such  a  complete  break 
with  the  old  order.  She  was  too  deeply  committed  by 
sympathy  and  conviction,  both  political  and  religious, 
to  the  British  Liberal  allegiance.  The  feud  was  healed. 


PITCHED  BATTLES  113 

The  Welsh  Party  in  the  House  flinched  from  electing 
the  rebel  as  their  Chairman.  So  they  left  England  to 
share  his  services.  They  allowed  him  the  freedom  of  a 
wider  and  more  splendid  career.  They  refused  to 
adopt  his  policy  of  an  independent  Welsh  Party;  so 
they  threw  him  into  a  larger  contest.1 

He  still  continued,  after  1895,  to  push  the  Welsh 
National  cause — he  has  never  ceased  to  push  it.  In 
the  new  House  his  enthusiasm  was  directed  to  "Home 
Rule  all  Round" ;  but  he  found  few  supporters. 

He  began  more  and  more  to  merge  the  cause  of 
Wales  in  the  larger  cause  of  Britain.  He  began  to  be- 
lieve that  the  Nonconformists  of  Britain  were  in  much 
the  same  case  as  the  Nonconformists  of  Wales.  Thus 
from  being  a  Welsh  Nationalist  only  he  became  a  Na- 
tionalist on  a  larger  scale — a  Nationalist  of  Britain. 

Wales  practically  gave  him  to  England. 

*At  a  Welsh  Party  meeting  on  May  i9th,  1899,  an  "independence" 
resolution  moved  by  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  definitely  shelved. 


CHAPTER  IX 

SOUTH    AFRICA 
"God  defend  the  right!" 

WHEN  the  South  African  War  broke  out  in  early 
October,  1899,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  touring  in  West- 
ern Canada.  The  mutterings  of  the  coming  storm  had 
already  reached  him  in  the  distant  regions  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  that  swift  political  instinct  of  his 
had  warned  him  of  grave  events.  He  turned  in  his 
tracks,  abandoned  his  holiday,  and  made  for  home.1 
While  crossing  the  Atlantic  he  had  abundant  time  to 
meditate  on  the  great  issue  between  the  South  African 
Republics  and  the  British  Empire. 

By  the  time  he  arrived  in  England  he  had  already 
a  very  strong  impression  that  a  great  wrong  was  being 
perpetrated.  But  before  uttering  any  decisive  word  in 
public  he  made  a  very  careful  study  of  the  many  State 
Papers  which  set  forth  the  case  on  either  side  in  that 
momentous  strife,  especially  the  minutes  of  the  negotia- 
tions between  President  Kruger  and  Lord  Milner  at 
Bloemfontein.  For  it  has  always  been  the  habit  of 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  to  study  his  documents  in  politics 
with  fully  as  much  care  as  a  good  judge  preparing  for 
the  courts. 

We  all  know  the  conclusion  he  reached  in  regard  to 

*A  letter  from  British  Columbia  on  September  i8th,   1899,  records 
his  horror,  and  his  resolution  to  return    (Du  Parcg.  ii.  216). 

114 


SOUTH  AFRICA  115 

the  Boer  War.1  He  took  the  view,  on  the  facts  of  the 
case,  that  the  war  was  by  no  means  inevitable.  He  held 
strongly  throughout  the  following  years  that  the  war 
was  the  result  of  bad  statesmanship.  He  did  not  deny 
the  wrongs  of  the  Uitlanders;  but  he  believed  that  the 
results  of  the  war  could  have  been  achieved  by  the 
patient  pursuit  of  peaceful  diplomacy.  This  view  has 
certainly  been  strengthened  since  those  days  by  that 
very  remarkable  book,  The  Autobiography  of  Sir  'Wil- 
liam Butler.2 

Throughout  the  most  bitter  period  of  the  contro- 
versy that  followed  Mr.  Lloyd  George  always  admitted 
that  there  were  two  sides  to  the  case.  He  absolutely 
refused  to  join  in  the  utter  damnation  of  those  Lib- 
erals, such  as  Mr.  Asquith  and  Sir  Edward  Grey,  who 
supported  the  war.  "We  take  a  different  view  of  the 
facts,"  was  his  way  of  putting  it;  and  perhaps  this  view 
explains  why  he  refused  to  make  the  quarrel  over  the 
Boer  War  a  dividing  issue  within  the  Liberal  Party. 
There  were  extremists  on  both  sides  who  wanted  to 
part  company;  and  there  were  pro-Boers  who  even 
rejoiced  when  that  strange  creation,  the  Liberal  League, 
came  into  being.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  not  one  of 
these.  Sir  Edward  Grey  on  the  side  of  the  war 
Liberals,  and  Mr.  Lloyd  George  on  the  side  of  the 
peace  Liberals,  did  their  utmost  to  prevent  a  perma- 
nent split;  and  they  succeeded.  When  the  war  was 
over  the  two  branches  of  the  party  were  able  to  come 
together,  and  found  that  they  still  agreed  on  the  main 
issues  of  domestic  politics. 

1  His  first  public  utterance  was  on  October  ayth,  just  before  the 
House  rose. 

*  Sir  William  Butler:  An  Autobiography.  By  Lieut-General  Sir 
W.  F.  Butler,  G.C.B.  (London.  Constable  &  Co.,  Ltd.  1911.) 


116  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

We  can  now  see  a  little  more  clearly  why  it  was  that 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  refused  to  found  a  separate  party 
on  the  basis  of  his  opposition  to  the  Boer  War.  It  was 
not  merely  his  practical  perception;  that  the  South 
African  War  was  an  issue  that  would  pass :  it  was  also 
that  he  was  in  no  sense  a  "peace  at  any  price"  man.  Al- 
though he  found  himself  in  the  company  of  the  pacifists, 
he  never  wholly  belonged  to  that  faith.  He  has  always 
been  conscious  that  the  ultimate  support  of  power  and 
freedom  must  be  force — force  guided  by  right,  but  still 
force.1 

His  passionate  sympathy  with  wars  of  freedom  is  in 
itself  evidence  on  this  side.  His  greatest  heroes  abroad 
are  men  like  Garibaldi,  and  at  home  those  great  Welsh 
patriots  and  princes  who  maintained  the  forlorn  fight  of 
his  own  little  nation  against  Saxon  and  Norman — men 
like  Glendwyr  and  Llewellyn;  fighters  like  De  Wet 
often  reminded  him  of  those  indomitable  Welsh  gueril- 
las. He  used  to  point  to  the  great  Norman  castles 
along  the  coasts  of  North  Wales  and  the  Welsh  bor- 
ders as  the  "block-houses"  which  the  conquerors  had 
to  build  to  control  his  own  people. 

Not,  indeed,  that  he  ever  maintained  the  view  that 
a  little  nation  was  a  law  unto  itself.  His  support  of 
the  Boer  cause  was  not  due  merely  to  his  belief  in  little 
nations. 

Order  has  to  be  maintained  in  the  world,  and  little 
nations  cannot  be  allowed  to  run  amuck.  That  was  why 
his  opposition  to  the  war  was  mild  at  first  and  grew 
stronger  as  time  went  on.  He  felt  that  the  Boers  had 
made  a  grave  mistake  in  issuing  their  Ultimatum.  As 

1  He  made  a  remarkable  speech  before  the  war  at  Manchester,  in 
January  1899,  defending  the  use  of  force  in  cases  of  defence. 


SOUTH  AFRICA  117 

long  as  the  war  was  on  our  part  a  war  of  resistance 
to  the  Boer  invasion  his  criticisms  were  restrained  by 
that  fact.  But  in  his  view  that  phase  ended  with  the 
capture  of  Bloemfontein  and  the  British  claim  to  annex. 

From  that  time  forward  (1900)  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
opposed  the  war  tooth  and  nail.  It  was  after  that  date 
that  he  determined  to  enter  upon  a  campaign  against 
the  war  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  Great 
Britain.  Many  of  his  parliamentary  friends  refused  to 
join;  but  Mr.  Lloyd  George  went  straight  on  and  faced 
the  music  in  every  part  of  the  kingdom. 

Since  John  Bright' s  great  fight  against  the  Crimean 
War  nothing  of  the  kind  had  been  seen  in  England. 
It  is  no  light  thing  to  meet  the  war  passion  full 
front. 

But  none  of  these  fears  held  back  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
at  this  great  moment.  He  went  everywhere  and  faced 
hostile  crowds  in  the  very  heart  of  the  war  country. 
He  faced  a  violent  mob  at  Glasgow;  he  defied  Mr. 
Chamberlain's  own  followers  at  Birmingham;  he  nar- 
rowly escaped  death  in  one  of  his  own  Boroughs — 
Bangor. 

Whatever  men  might  think  of  his  views,  no  one 
could  deny  his  courage.  It  was  no  easy  campaign  to 
conduct.  The  charge  of  treason  was  always  in  the  air. 
"Do  you  wish  the  Boers  to  win?"  shouted  a  heckler 
after  one  of  his  most  eloquent  defences  of  the  Dutch 
Republicans.  He  was  silent  for  a  moment,  then  he 
said,  slowly  and  impressively:  "God  defend  the 
right!" 

He  has  often  been  severely  criticised  both  then  and 
since  for  consenting  to  put  on  a  constable's  coat  and 
uniform  in  order  to  escape  from  the  Town  Hall  at 


118  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Birmingham.  An  armed  mob  had  possession  of  the 
hall  itself.  They  had  pinned  him  and  his  friends  into 
a  back  room:  they  threatened  and  partly  intended  to 
achieve  both  his  death  and  theirs.  It  is  contended 
that  he  was  to  wait  meekly  for  his  doom. 

Such  criticism  is  surely  the  very  extravagance  of 
blame.  If  an  unarmed  public  man  faced  with  a  mob 
so  organised  cannot  resort  to  a  "ruse  of  war"  to  save 
both  his  friends  and  himself,  then  surely  the  bully 
will  rule  the  world.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Chief 
Constable  of  Birmingham  found  it  difficult  enough  to 
persuade  Mr.  Lloyd  George  to  put  on  the  uniform; 
and  it  was  only  when  he  had  convinced  him  that  his 
friends  too  were  in  danger  that  he  reluctantly  assented. 
But  if  he  had  actually  himself  asked  for  the  uniform 
he  would  surely  have  been  fully  justified. 

To  achieve  an  honourable  peace — that  was  the 
object  of  his  great  campaign  in  1901  and  1902  ;  and  un- 
doubtedly he  played  a  great  part  in  an  achievement 
which  saved  British  South  Africa.  It  is  true  he  had 
beside  him  that  brave  and  honest  man,  Sir  Henry 
Campbell-Bannerman,  who  helped  as  far  as  it  was  pos- 
sible for  the  official  chief  of  a  party  deeply  divided 
by  the  issue.  It  is  also  fair  to  say  that  Lord  Rosebery 
played  a  great  and  honourable  part  in  the  final  settle- 
ment. But  all  the  risk  was  taken  by  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
— at  the  time  when  every  phrase  and  word  meant 
danger. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that,  when  the  Boers  finally  agreed 
to  peace,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  seemed  for  the  moment  to 
lose  his  interest  in  them.  He  afterwards  met  and  made 
great  friends  with  General  Botha  and  General  Smuts; 


SOUTH  AFRICA  119 

and  he  has  since  taken  General  Smuts  into  his  War  Cab- 
inet. But  I  think  he  had  at  the  time  a  sentimental 
sympathy  with  General  De  Wet  in  his  "no  surrender" 
policy.  His  reason  was  with  General  Botha;  but  his 
heart  was  with  the  men  in  the  Back  Veldt. 

His  interest  did  not  revive  until  that  occasion  when 
Sir  Henry  Campbell-Bannerman  persuaded  the  Cab- 
inet of  1906  to  make  the  "clean  cut"  by  giving  self- 
government  to  the  annexed  States.  Of  the  speech 
which  "C.  B."  then  made  to  the  Cabinet,  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  always  afterwards  spoke  with  a  sincere  and 
passionate  admiration.  He  felt  that  it  was  the  undoing 
of  a  great  wrong. 

All  through  the  time  of  the  Boer  War  (1899-1902). 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  would  spend  his  Sundays  in  that 
simple  little  house  by  the  side  of  Wandsworth  Com- 
mon— 2,  Routh  Road.  There  he  could  escape  from 
the  tumult  and  turmoil.  On  those  Sunday  afternoons 
he  would  often  walk  over  Wandsworth  and  Chapham 
Commons,  and  he  would  play  andsing  with  his  children 
as  if  no  great  shadow  overhung  the  country.  He  was 
especially  fond  of  singing  hymns  on  those  Sunday 
afternoons.  He  would  always  join  with  tremendous 
gusto;  and  although  his  voice  was  untrained,  he  was 
certainly  a  very  hearty  singer.  But  his  greatest  joy 
was  when  the  children  brought  a  book  of  Welsh  hymns 
and  Welsh  folk-songs.  He  would  sing  these  with  a 
thrilling  delight  which  made  him  really  for  the  moment 
a  singer  of  power. 

Then  he  would  come  back  to  discuss  the  situation; 
for  he  was  never  tired  of  discussion.  He  would  talk 
over  every  detail  of  the  war;  he  would  follow  it  out 
with  the  greatest  precision  on  large-scale  maps.  He 


120  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

developed  a  most  uncanny  military  skill;  and  he  would 
prophesy  with  the  most  remarkable  astuteness  the  next 
move  of  the  Generals  on  either  side.  He  knew  every 
battle  and  skirmish;  and,  though  he  had  never  been  to 
South  Africa,  he  seemed  even  to  know  the  lie  of  the 
ground.  He  appeared  to  know  to  what  spot  a  column 
was  going  to  move  before  it  got  there.  He  had  the 
same  instinctive  military  perception  with  which  Botha 
himself  was  gifted.  I  remember  De  Wet  once  saying 
in  conversation,  "The  only  military  training  I  ever  had 
was  the  same  as  that  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George — parlia- 
mentary tactics."  May  it  not  be  that  there  is  some 
intimate  relation  between  the  tactics  of  Parliament  and 
the  battle-field?  Cromwell  was  a  Member  of  Parlia- 
ment before  he  was  a  soldier;  is  it  not  possible  that,  if 
opportunity  had  afforded,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  might 
have  become  a  successful  leader  of  armies?  1 

One  afternoon  especially  comes  back  to  my  mind — 
a  hot  summer  afternoon  when  we  sat  in  the  garden  of 
the  Wandsworth  house  and  listened  to  Miss  Emily 
Hobhouse  as  she  read  to  us  her  diary  of  her  life  in  the 
concentration  camps.  She  had  come  hot-foot  from 
South  Africa  with  these  bare  daily  records  of  her  expe- 
riences; and  her  idea  was  to  work  them  up  into  a  book. 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  gave  an  instant  opinion :  "No,  pub- 
lish it  as  it  stands!"  was  his  pronouncement;  and  so 
the  diary  was  published  with  its  fearful  record  of  daily 
horror.  Simultaneously  with  its  publication  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  arranged  to  move  the  adjournment  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  the  double  event  blew  up  the 
whole  policy  of  the  concentration  camps. 

1  See  the  article  by  Mr.  Herbert  Sidebothara  in  The  Atlantic  Month- 
ly for  November  1919,  in  which  he  discusses  the  question. 


SOUTH  AFRICA 

Thus  did  he  ultimately  redeem  the  British  name 
from  the  charge  of  barbarism. 

In  the  midst  of  the  struggle  Mr.  Lloyd  George  de- 
termined that  he  must  have  a  London  daily  newspaper 
on  his  side.  Committees  had  been  formed  and  sub- 
scription lists  started,  but  little  progress  had  been  made. 
At  last  he  concluded  that  this  was  not  a  case  for  found- 
ing a  new  journal.  What  was  wanted  was  to  buy  up 
an  established  Liberal  paper.  A  whisper  of  trouble  in 
the  Daily  News  office  gave  the  compass-bearings  for* 
this  venture.  Imperialism  was  not  suiting  the  Daily 
News  readers;  the  proprietors  were  willing  to  sell. 
But  a  hundred  thousand  pounds  were  wanted  for  the 
purchase.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  determined  to  raise  the 
money.  For  once  in  his  life  he  wrote  two  very  careful 
letters — one  to  Mr.  George  Cadbury  and  the  other  to 
Mr.  Thomasson.  He  placed  before  them  the  issues 
in  very  clear  and  searching  language.  Those  two  gen- 
erous and  large-hearted  men  replied  by  offering 
£25,000  each;  and  the  battle  was  practically  won. 

He  read  me  those  letters  at  the  time — we  were  din- 
ing at  Gatti's — and  he  read  them  over  the  coffee  and 
cigars.  All  I  can  say  is  that  the  letters  were  fully 
worth  the  money  they  brought  to  his  cause. 

It  was  not  very  pleasant  for  the  "prize  crew"  to 
take  the  places  of  old  colleagues  like  Sir  Edward 
Cook  and  Mr.  Saxon  Mills,  both  of  whom  from  their 
own  point  of  view  had  honestly  and  patriotically  main- 
tained their  faith.  Nor  was  the  struggle  easy  for  the 
new  proprietors.  I  remember  consoling  Mr.  George 
Cadbury  by  pointing  out  that  he  saved  at  least  as  many 
lives  as  he  lost  pounds  sterling;  and  with  that  reflection 
that  excellent  man  was  more  than  satisfied. 


122  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

But  the  personal  crises  through  which  journalists  and 
proprietors  had  to  pass  during  that  time  were  dust  in 
the  balance  compared  with  what  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and 
his  family  had  to  endure.  His  professional  work  in 
the  City  came  almost  entirely  to  a  stand.  His  office 
was  boycotted;  and  one  day  a  lump  of  coal  was  thrown 
through  the  window.  Towards  the  end  of  the  war 
things  got  so  bad  that  he  had  to  contemplate  breaking 
up  his  home.  "They  shan't  starve  me,"  he  said  to  his 
wife  one  day,  "even  if  I  have  to  send  you  all  to  Cric- 
cieth  and  live  in  a  garret  myself."  Peace  happily  came 
before  this  event;  but  at  every  turn  in  the  struggle  he 
had  to  look  ruin  in  the  face.  His  boy  Richard  1  had 
such  a  bad  time  at  school  in  London  that  they  found  it 
necessary  to  transfer  him  to  Portmadoc  County  School 
when  the  facts  were  drawn  from  the  reticent  boy. 

Throughout  these  troubles  he  was  as  considerate  of 
those  around  him  as  he  was  regardless  of  his  own 
interests.  Mr.  Arthur  Rhys  Roberts,  his  partner  in 
the  city  firm,  has  always  given  to  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
his  devotion  and  loyalty;  but  he  is  the  first  to  claim 
that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  has  earned  it.  At  the  most 
critical  moment  of  the  struggle,  when  threatening  no- 
tices were  coming  with  every  post,  old  clients  vanishing 
like  melting  snow,  and  companies  discarding  their  ser- 
vices, Mr.  Lloyd  George  came  to  Mr.  Roberts.  "What 
are  your  views?"  he  said  to  him.  "I  don't  mind 
smashing  up  my  own  business,  but  I  have  my  qualms 
about  injuring  you.  Tell  me  what  I  shall  do  to  pro- 
tect you."  Mr.  Roberts,  feeling  that  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  was  risking  everything,  refused  to  claim  any 

1  Now     (1920)     Major    Richard    Lloyd    George.     Both    Mr.    Lloyd 
George's  sons  fought  in  the  war,  and  both  became  majors. 


SOUTH  AFRICA  123 

immunity;  but  these  simple  touches  of  consideration 
explain  the  devotion  which  Mr.  Lloyd  George  has  so 
often  inspired  in  those  who  have  worked  for  him. 

Down  in  his  own  constituency  he  seemed  to  have 
sacrificed  everything.  They  burnt  him  in  effigy  in 
three  of  his  Boroughs — at  Criccieth,  Nevin,  and  Pwll- 
heli.  When  he  went  to  Bangor  all  his  friends  warned 
him  of  the  grave  risks  he  was  running.  But  he  insisted 
on  speaking  there  in  the  Penrhyn  Hall.  The  mob 
broke  every  window.  He  refused  protection,  and 
walked  openly  through  the  crowd  out  of  the  hall.  In 
the  High  Street  he  was  struck  on  the  head  with  a 
bludgeon  and  only  saved  by  his  hat.  He  staggered, 
half  stunned,  into  a  cafe  in  the  High  Street,  and  there 
he  was  besieged  for  hours  by  a  raging  mob.  On  the 
advice  of  the  police,  he  climbed  out  at  the  back  of  the 
house  and  got  away  in  a  cab  that  was  brought  round 
to  him.  The  crowd  waited  until  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  "finish"  him. 

All  through  the  fearful  episode  Mrs.  Lloyd  George 
shared  her  husband's  danger,  and  was  stoned  in  her 
motor-car  as  she  was  waiting  for  him. 

At  last  he  paid  a  visit  to  Nevin,  his  own  special 
Borotigh,  where  as  a  rule  the  people  worshipped  him. 
But  there  at  first  his  only  friend  was  a  lame  old  shoe- 
maker. The  people  did  not  attack  him,  but  they  held 
absolutely  aloof.  When  he  held  a  meeting,  they  re- 
fused at  first  to  come  into  the  hall.  Nothing  daunted, 
he  spoke  quietly,  and  at  length,  on  every  subject  under 
the  sun  except  the  Boer  War.  As  they  heard  him 
through  the  door  talking  about  their  favourite  subjects 
people  slowly  crept  in,  man  by  man,  and  gradually  filled 
the  hall.  Then,  when  he  found  himself  with  a  good 


THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

audience  in  front  of  him,  he  really  approached  the  sub- 
ject. Gently  and  tentatively  he  addressed  them  in  their 
own  Welsh  language,  and  it  is  very,  very  difficult  for  a 
Welsh  audience  not  to  listen  to  him  in  that  melodious 
tongue.  But  though  they  listened  they  showed  no  en- 
thusiasm; he  felt  that  he  was  not  moving  them  at  all. 
Then  suddenly  he  changed  his  tack.  Facing  them  in  his 
grimmest  way  he  said  to  them  sternly: 

"See  here  now — five  years  ago  you  handed  me 
a  strip  of  blue  paper  to  give  to  the  Speaker  as 
your  accredited  representative.  If  I  never  again 
represent  these  boroughs  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons I  shall  at  least  have  the  satisfaction  of  hand- 
ing back  to  you  that  blue  paper  with  no  single 
stain  of  human  blood  upon  it." 

The  effect  was  electrical.  The  whole  audience  rose 
to  their  feet  with  a  shout.  He  had  won  them  back  to 
his  allegiance. 

It  is  a  curious  historical  fact  that  in  another  great 
struggle  another  great  Celtic  orator,  fighting  a  lone 
fight  against  an  unjust  war-passion  in  these  islands,  ut- 
tered very  much  the  same  proud  boast.  When  Mr. 
Edmund  Burke  sent  to  the  Sheriffs  of  the  City  of 
Bristol  in  1777  that  famous  letter  on  the  affairs  of 
America  he  wrote : 

"If  you  and  I  find  our  talents  not  of  the  great 
and  ruling  kind,  our  conduct,  at  least,  is  conform- 
able to  our  faculties.  No  man's  life  pays  the 
forfeit  of  our  rashness.  No  desolate  widow 
weeps  tears  of  blood  over  our  ignorance." 


SOUTH  AFRICA  125 

"A  conscientious  man  would  be  cautious  how  he  dealt 
in  blood."  Comparing  the  two  passages,  Mr.  Lloyd 
George's  words  are  a  curious  unconscious  echo  of 
Edmund  Burke's — showing  how,  under  similar  stress, 
great  minds  will  ever  leap  to  the  same  expression. 

Throughout  all  these  storms  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
always  showed  that  steady,  clear-headed  shrewdness 
which  is  perhaps  his  supreme  characteristic. 

Never  was  this  more  conspicuously  shown  than  in 
his  contest  with  Mr.  Chamberlain  over  the  connection 
with  Kynochs.  Here  was  difficult,  dangerous  ground, 
where  he  had  to  tread  delicately.  On  one  occasion,  in 
that  attack,  he  was  constrained  to  make  use  of  some 
figures  published  in  a  newspaper.  Shortly  before  the 
debate,  he  sent  to  his  partner  an  urgent  request  that 
he  should  verify  his  figures  at  Somerset  House.  A 
clerk  was  sent  along,  and  after  careful  checking  it  was 
discovered  that  there  was  an  error  of  no  mean  dimen- 
sions— an  excessive  o  in  one  of  the  statements  of  share- 
holdings. At  the  last  possible  moment  the  error  was 
telephoned  to  him  at  the  House  of  Commons. 

As  Mr.  Lloyd  George  waded  his  way  through  the 
figures  in  the  press  report,  Mr.  Joseph  Chamberlain, 
sitting  on  the  Treasury  Bench,  leaned  forward,  waiting 
to  pounce.  He,  too,  knew  of  the  error,  and  he  was  in- 
tending to  use  it  for  his  assailant's  destruction.  He 
well  knew  the  cost  of  one  such  slip  in  the  House  of 
Commons. 

But  when  Mr.  Lloyd  George  came  to  the  figure,  he 
paused,  and  passed  it  by.  Mr.  Chamberlain  leaned 
back  in  his  seat  pale  to  the  lips,  disappointed  and  baf- 
fled. He  had  met  his  match. 


126  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

The  climax  in  this  crisis  in  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  career 
came  when  Mr.  Chamberlain,  in  September  1900,  sud- 
denly dissolved  Parliament.  In  the  famous  Khaki  Elec- 
tion that  followed  certainly  Mr.  Chamberlain  seemed 
as  if  he  might  look  with  security  to  one  great  triumph, 
and  that  was  the  final  political  extinction  of  Mr.  Lloyd 
George.  It  was  surely  improbable  that  a  constituency 
which  had  just  burnt  him  in  effigy  would  return  him  to 
Parliament.  But  if  Mr.  Chemberlain  staked  much  on 
that  throw  it  only  shows  that  he  did  not  know  Wales. 

I  happened  to  be  with  Mr.  Lloyd  George  through 
that  election.  It  was  a  very  astonishing  affair.  When 
he  first  came  down  to  Carnarvon  he  seemed  to  have 
few  friends  in  the  Boroughs.  The  people  were  sullen, 
if  not  hostile.  Then  he  began  talking  to  them  in  their 
own  language ;  and  it  was  curious  to  watch,  in  meeting 
after  meeting,  all  their  old  tribal  loyalty  gradually 
coming  back  to  him.  He  moved  from  town  to  town, 
slowly  and  cautiously  recapturing  their  affections.  He 
left  no  stone  unturned.  In  private  he  calculated  his 
chances  with  all  the  close  shrewdness  of  a  business  man. 
Daily  he  reckoned  up  the  voting  probabilities  in  his 
pocket-book.  In  public  he  worked  indefatigably.  He 
had  against  him  a  retired  military  officer,  Colonel  Platt, 
chosen  doubtless  for  the  khaki  suggestiveness  of  his 
title.  All  the  feudal  powers  of  Wales  put  forth  a 
supreme  effort  to  destroy  their  life-long  terror. 

We  all  know  how  it  ended.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was 
returned  to  Parliament  on  Saturday,  October  6th,  1900, 
with  the  largest  majority  he  had  yet  achieved — 296. 
Some  of  the  inflammable  material  which  had  been 
bought  for  burning  him  in  effigy  at  Carnarvon  was 
actually  used  in  the  manufacture  of  the  torches  which 


SOUTH  AFRICA  127 

lit  up  his  triumphal  procession.  The  same  crowd  which 
had  been  ready  to  destroy  him  a  few  months  before  led 
him  home  on  the  night  of  the  poll  with  a  pomp  and 
enthusiasm  fit  for  a  king  returning  from  his  wars.  A 
few  months  ago  they  had  stoned  him;  a  few  weeks 
ago  they  were  still  against  him:  but  now  with  Silver 
tongue  he  had  won  back  their  hearts,  and  his  people 
were  with  him  again. 

Outside  his  own  house,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  stood  up 
in  his  carriage  and  bade  them  sing  that  great  anthem 
of  Wales,  "The  Land  of  our  Fathers."  The  dark- 
ness above  us  gave  to  the  scene  a  ghostly  majesty;  the 
earnest,  melancholy  harmonies  breathed  an  undying 
hope;  the  sea  of  resolute  faces  gave  a  sense  of  vast, 
indefinable  strength.  The  great  hymn  ended,  and  then 
in  perfect  quiet  the  great  multitude  dispersed. 

That  last  scene  gave  a  clue  to  his  hold  over  his 
people.  At  the  critical  moment  he  had  recalled  their 
minds  from  adventures  abroad  to  the  thought  of  their 
own  dear  land  at  home.  On  the  very  edge  of  aban- 
doning him  they  had  recoiled.  They  had  remembered 
him  as  their  own  Welsh  leader;  and  their  loyalty  had 
gone  back  to  him. 

It  marked  a  great  step  in  his  career.  For  it  proved 
to  the  whole  world  that  he  had  behind  him  a  people 
that  would  support  him  in  his  direst  need.  With  such 
a  support  behind  him  a  man  can  serenely  face  the 
future. 


CHAPTER  X 

FOR  WALES  AND  FOR  ENGLAND 

"No  poor  man  can  afford  to  be  ignorant;  leave  that  to  the 
rich." — Mr.  Lloyd  George  at  Hanley  (1913). 

MR.  LLOYD  GEORGE  was  not  to  remain  idle  long. 
In  1902  the  Conservative  wing  of  the  Unionist  com- 
bination once  again  asserted  itself.  The  war  was  over. 
The  Unionists  found  themselves  with  that  great  af- 
fair wound  up  and  the  whole  world  before  them.  It 
was  a  tempting  position.  They  were  still  in  supreme 
command  of  a  Parliament  which  had*  five  years  to 
run.  The  House  of  Lords  was  their  obedient  servant. 
They  could  practically  pass  what  Bills  they  liked.  It 
was  almost  too  much  strain  on  human  nature  to  ex- 
pect that  they  should  not  pass  some  of  the  Bills  that 
they  really  wanted. 

True,  there  had  been  certain  promises  made  during 
the  General  Election  of  1900  which  were  rather  dif- 
ficult to  explain.  Various  Unionist  leaders  had  indis- 
creetly laid  it  down  that  that  Election  was  for  the  war 
and  the  war  alone.  But  the  Government  seemed  con- 
tent to  rely  on  the  humane  view  once  put  forward  by 
an  M.P.  victorious  through  the  strength  of  many  prom- 
ises— that  promises  made  in  the  heat  of  an  Election  do 
not  really  count.  So  in  1902  they  took  the  bit  in 
their  mouths  and  boldly  brought  in  a  Bill  throwing 
the  Voluntary  Schools  on  to  the  rates.  It  was  the 

128 


FOR  WALES  AND  FOR  ENGLAND         129 

very  policy  which  had  been  openly  declared  impos- 
sible from  the  front  Conservative  bench  in  1896,  and  it 
was  known  to  be  extremely  distasteful  to  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  took  a  leading  part  in  the  par- 
liamentary opposition  to  this  measure.  He  once  more 
let  "all  out"  as  a  guerilla  fighter.  There  he  was  always 
supreme.  His  knowledge  of  the  law  made  him  extraor- 
dinarily resourceful  in  the  invention  and  discovery  of 
amendments;  while  he  displayed  a  skill  equally  aston- 
ishing as  an  agile  draftsman.  Night  after  night  he 
turned  up  fresh  and  smiling;  always  calm  and  moderate, 
serenely  persuasive,  and,  to  his  enemies,  distressingly 
cool.  It  seemed  an  outrage  to  speak  of  such  a  humane 
fighter  as  an  obstructionist;  and  yet  there  is  no  doubt 
that  few  of  the  most  savage  of  that  tribe  succeeded  so 
well  in  delaying  the  progress  of  Bills. 

Now,  as  in  1896,  he  became  once  more  the  heart 
and  soul  of  the  Opposition.  The  Government  found 
themselves  compelled  to  accept  a  great  many  of  his 
amendments,  and  in  this  way  very  much  weakened  their 
Bill.  Mr.  Balfour  found  him  a  shrewd  and  agile  op- 
ponent worthy  of  his  steel. 

This  time,  of  course,  he  was  not  fighting  alone. 
He  was  supported  with  the  full  power  of  the  Front 
Opposition  Bench,  now  ably  led  by  Sir  Henry  Camp- 
bell-Bannerman  with  Mr.  Asquith  as  chief  lieutenant. 
But  Mr.  Lloyd  George  always  contributed  something 
peculiarly  his  own.  To  the  heavy  thunder  of  the 
Front  Bench  guns  he  added  the  fret  and  jar  of  ma- 
chine-gun fire,  galling  the  flanks  of  the  Government 
forces,  driving  them  from  their  chosen  positions,  often 
annihilating  their  best  offensives. 


130  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

There  is  no  doubt  that  his  opposition  to  the  Educa- 
tion Bill  played  an  effective  part  in  weakening  Mr.  Bal- 
four's  Government,  and  considerably  improved  the  new 
Act  when  it  came  to  be  applied  to  the  schools  of  the 
country. 

But  his  real  triumph  came  after  the  Bill  had  passed 
through  Parliament.  On  -the  main  objection  of  prin- 
ciple to  that  measure  he  agreed  with  the  Nonconform- 
ists of  England;  but  he  did  not  see  eye  to  eye  with  them 
in  the  policy  to  be  employed  to  resist  the  application  of 
the  Bill.  He  was  never  a«  "Passive  Resister."  The 
English  problem,  indeed,  was  different.  The  English 
Nonconformists  had  no  certain  control  of  the  English 
County  Councils.  But  in  Wales  Mr.  Lloyd  George  had 
long  ago  ensured  his  hold  over  those  bodies,  and  he 
had  deftly  amended  the  Bill  so  that  they  should  have 
a  decisive  control -over  the  administration  of  the  Act. 

He  now  laid  before  the  County  Councils  of  Wales 
a  very  ingenious  scheme  of  resistance,  destined  to  be 
far  more  effective  than. the  heroic  but  vain  martyrdoms 
of  the  English  Nonconformists. 

In  January  1903  he  issued  to  the  people  of  Wales 
an  Address  embodying  his  policy.1  It  was  in  appear- 
ance a  law-abiding  policy,  with  the  careful  intention  of 
avoiding  any  element  of  offence  to  legality.  It  was  in- 
geniously based  on  provisions  introduced  into  the  Bill 
in  the  course  of  the  long  parliamentary  fight. 

It  was  laid  down  in  the  new  Act,  for  instance,  that 
all  schools  must  be  passed  as  efficiently  equipped  before 
they  received  rate-aid  from  the  Councils.  That  was  a 
provision  already  existing  in  regard  to  the  Parliamen- 

1  "Address  to  the  people  of  Wales,"  January  tyth,  1903. 


FOR  WALES  AND  FOR  ENGLAND         131 

tary  Grant;  but  always  more  honoured  in  the  breach 
than  in  the  observance. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  proposed  that  this  provision  of 
the  law  should  be  carried  out.  He  suggested  that  all 
schools  should  be  inspected  and  surveyed  by  the  County^ 
Councils  before  rate-aid  was  contemplated;  and  that 
only  those  which  were  passed  should  be  capable  of  re- 
ceiving it.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  knew  enough  of  the  con- 
dition of  these  schools  to  be  sure  that  few  would  pass 
any  honest  scrutiny.  But  none  could  deny  the  reason- 
ableness of  this  request.  "The  sectarian  schools,"  he 
said  in  his  Address,  "should  be  properly  cleansed  and 
clothed  before  they  are  allowed  to  associate  on  equal 
terms  with  more  decently  clad  institutions."  It  seemed 
a  fair  and  proper  condition. 

That  was  the  first  stage.  The  second  was  that  rate 
aid  was  then  to  be  given  only  to  those  schools  that 
would  accept  genuine  public  control  by  the  Councils 
and  would  suspend  religious  tests  for  teachers.  Other- 
wise, nothing  was  to  be  handed  to  the  schools  except 
the  Parliamentary  Grants. 

Meanwhile,  it  was  characteristic  of  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  that  it  was  part  of  his  policy  always  to  hold 
out  the  olive  branch  as  an  alternative  to  the  sword. 
He  suggested  to  the  Councils  that  rate-aid  should  be 
given  to  any  schools  where  the  managers  would  accept 
the  plan  of  "facilities"  for  sectarian  teaching  on  co- 
lonial lines — the  sects,  that  is  to  say,  to  teach  after 
school  hours.  This  was  a  plan  which  had  always  at- 
tracted him.  It  seemed  to  him  to  combine  equity  with 
the  least  possible  interference  with  education.  It  was 
the  part  of  his  proposals  which  roused  least  enthusiasm 
in  Wales  on  either  side. 


But,  though  fighting  fiercely,  he  never  at  any  mo- 
ment gave  up  the  hope  of  peace.  All  through  the  hot- 
test moments  of  this  strife,  through  1903-4-5,  he  kept 
the  door  open  for  a  settlement.  He  struck  up  a  re- 
markable friendship  with  that  large-hearted  man,  Dr. 
Edwards,  the  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,1  and  largely  through 
the  efforts  of  these  two  there  were  frequent  meetings 
and  conferences — at  Llandrindod  and  in  London — but 
all  to  no  effect.  It  always  happened  that  just  when 
peace  seemed  in  sight  the  quarrel  broke  out  afresh. 
The  real  fact  was,  of  course,  that  the  two  sides  never 
desired  the  same  object  or  meant  the  same  things. 

"My  advice  is — let  us  capture  the  enemy's  artillery 
and  turn  his  guns  against  him."  That  was  the  heart  of 
Mr.  Lloyd  George's  policy  of  resistance  to  the  new  Act. 
His  idea  was  to  defeat  the  spirit  of  the  Act  by  obey- 
ing the  letter. 

It  was  no  easy  task  to  swing  Wales  into  line  on  this 
policy.  Some  authorities  wanted  to  go  further  and 
defy  the  Act  altogether.  Some — a  very  few — wanted 
to  carry  it  out.  Many  individuals  craved  for  the  prison 
martyrdom  of  the  English  Nonconformists.  There  is 
fascination  as  well  as  courage  in  suffering  for  a  cause. 

But  Mr.  Lloyd  George  preached  his  doctrine  north 
and  south,  east  and  west.  In  the  spring  of  1904  the 
triennial  election  for  the  County  Councils  was  due.  His 
advice  was — to  make  this  policy  the  test  of  those  elec- 
tions. If  the  electors  decided  in  his  favour,  well  and 
good — if  not,  then  they  must  bow  to  democratic  con- 
trol and  carry  out  the  Act.  At  no  point  did  he  en- 
courage the  idea  of  personal  individual  resistance. 

1  Cousin   of   Sir   Frank  Edwards,   M.P.,   one  of  the  most  faithful 
of  the  Welsh  Nationalists,  but  himself  an  Anglican. 


FOR  WALES  AND  FOR  ENGLAND         133 

The  elections  came;  gind  the  results  surpassed  his 
most  sanguine  expectations.'  Jn  every  one  of  the  twen- 
ty-eight counties  the  supporters  of  his  "no  rate"  policy 
were  returned  with  a  strong  majority.  In  many  cases 
the  supporters  of  the  Act  had  been  almost  annihilated. 
In  Carnarvonshire  itself  they  were  reduced  to  a  minor- 
ity of  six.  In  Merionethshire  there  were  fifty-two  sup- 
porters of  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  policy  as  against  three 
opponents.  Even  in  Brecon,  where  the  Church  was  at 
its  strongest,  thirty-nine  members  out  of  sixty  were  in 
favour  of  his  policy. 

Such  were  the  events  which  completely  paralysed-the 
exaction  of  the  new  Voluntary  Rate  throughout  Wales. 

The  Government  decided  to  coerce  Wales.  In  April 
1904  they  brought  forward  a  measure  called  the  De- 
faulting Authorities  Bill,  but  instantly  nicknamed  the 
Welsh  Coercion  Bill.  This  Bill  provided  that,  where  a 
Welsh  County  Council  refused  rate  aid  to  a  Voluntary 
School,  the  Treasury  should  have  the  right  to  pay  the 
money  direct  to  the  Church  Schools.  They  were  to  de- 
duct it  from  the  Parliamentary  Grant,  thus  compelling 
the  County  Councils  to  make  up  out  of  the  rates  the 
loss  to  their  own  "provided"  schools. 

It  was  an  ingenious  proposal;  but  it  reckoned  with- 
out the  spirit  of  Wales  under  the  leadership  of  Mr. 
Lloyd  George. 

The  Bill  did  not  pass  through  the  House  until  the 
close  of  the  Session  of  1904.  The  "Kangaroo"  Closure 
was  called  for  by  Mr.  Balfour  and  granted  by  Mr. 
Lowther  from  the  Chair.  There  was  a  scene  of  pas- 
sion. Once  more  (as  in  1896)  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
refused  to  leave  the  House.  Mr.  Lowther  brought  to 
bear  that  invincible  good-humour  of  his,  and  Mr.  As- 


134.  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

quith  suggested  another  and  a  better  way.  In  the  re- 
sult, the  whole  Liberal  Party,  headed  by  Mr.  Asquith, 
accompanied  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  his  Welshmen  in 
a  solemn  exodus  from  the  House.  Such  incidents  were 
not  likely  to  make  Wales  more  conciliatory. 

In  October  Mr.  Lloyd  George  definitely  raised  the 
flag  of  defiance  against  this  Coercion  Act. 

He  persuaded  a  gathering  of  600  representatives  of 
Education  Authorities,  assembled  at  Cardiff,  to  agree 
on  a  refusal  to  surrender. 

In  the  memorable  speech  he  made  on  this  occasion  he 
carried  the  war  into  the  enemy's  country.  He  accused 
these  law-makers  of  lawlessness  on  their  side.  He 
pointed  out  to  them  that  for  years  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation had  broken  the  law  on  behalf  of  Voluntary 
Schools.  They  had  not  enforced  the  efficiency  imposed 
by  law.  "They  broke  the  law  in  order  not  to  levy  a 
rate."  Very  well.  Wales  would  not  levy  a  rate  until 
the  law  was  obeyed.  That  was  their  position.  He 
boldly  maintained  that  the  law  was  on  the  side  of 
Wales;  and  thus  most  wisely  did  he  avoid  that  perilous 
identification  of  his  policy  with  the  idea  and  habit  of 
lawlessness  which  has  needlessly  injured  so  many  good 
causes. 

He  defied  coercion.  If  the  Defaulting  Act  were 
enforced  and  the  rate-aid  deducted  from  the  Parlia- 
mentary Grant,  he  boldly  advised  that  the  Welsh  Coun- 
cils should  close  their  schools.  It  would  be  a  better 
thing  that  the  children  should  be  brought  up  to  rever- 
ence freedom  of  conscience  than  that  they  should  learn 
even  the  three  R's.  Besides,  they  could  provide  build- 
ings where  they  could  teach  them  that  freedom  of 
conscience  was  a  greater  thing  even  than  knowledge. 


FOR  WALES  AND  FOR  ENGLAND         135 

Once  more,  courage  won  the  day.  It  was  not  going 
to  be  an  easy  thing  to  dispute  Mr.  Lloyd  George's 
reading  of  the  law  in  those  High  Courts  which  know 
nothing  of  politics.  Only  a  very  few  Welsh  Authori- 
ties got  out  of  hand,  and,  going  ahead  of  Mr.  Lloyd 
George's  astute  advice,  rendered  themselves  liable  to 
prosecution.1 

But  even  then  the  Government  did  not  venture  to 
act.  They  had  not  enough  public  opinion  behind  them. 
From  1904  to  1906  there  was  no  moment  in  the  his- 
tory of  that  divided,  tempest-tossed  Government  when 
they  could  safely  have  entered  upon  a  strife  so  perilous 
and  so  doubtful.  So  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  left  in 
Wales  still  unassailed  and  triumphant  until  the  Genr 
eral  Election  of  1906  swept  away  the  Government  and 
practically  killed  the  Coercion  Act. 

Meanwhile,  during  those  years  David  Lloyd  George 
had  been  all  the  time  steadily  adding  to  his  reputa- 
tion as  a  speaker  and  debater  both  in  the  House  of 
Commons  and  in  the  country.  There,  after  all,  we 
always  come  back  to  his  supreme  political  weapon — 
the  power  of  public  speech.  Born  in  those  village 
debates  within  the  bootmaker's  shop  and  the  smithy 
at  Llanystumdwy,  that  power  had  been  sharpened  and 
developed  on  the  village  greens  and  in  the  town  halls 
of  Wales,  trained  to  finer  uses  on  the  public  platforms 
of  England,  and  quickened  by  the  quick  thrust  and 
parry  in  parliamentary  debate.  It  had  passed  through 
the  fire  of  stern  combat  during  the  South  African  strug- 
gle, and  now  it  had  emerged  in  swift,  keen  sword  of 
combat,  at  once  supple  and  strong. 

1  Carnarvonshire  and  Merionethshire. 


136  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

That  weapon  he  had  used  in  all  the  great  parliamen- 
tary fights  of  those  years,  when  Mr.  Balfour  was  car- 
rying on,  like  the  great  Arthur  of  old,  the  last  great 
combat  for  that  pleasant,  serene,  feudal  England  which 
was  already  so  sorely  wounded  by  the  hunters. 

Feudalism  seemed  to  win  for  the  time.  The  Bills 
became  Acts  of  Parliament — the  Schools  Bill,  even  the 
Licensing  Bill.  Mr.  Balfour,  himself  a  supreme  mas- 
ter of  the  parliamentary  arts,  seemed  to  survive.  But 
all  the  time  David  Lloyd  George  was  inflicting  mortal 
wounds,  until  at  last,  like  the  old  defeated  royalist 
in  the  Civil  Wars,  Mr.  Arthur  Balfour  gracefully 
yielded  his  sword.  He  was  actually  the  first,  in  that 
generous  way  of  his,  who  recommended  to  Sir  Henry 
Campbell-Bannerman  that,  in  whatever  Cabinet  he 
might  be  called  upon  to  form,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  must 
in  any  case  be  a  Minister. 

It  was  in  1903  that  a  great  diversion  occurred  in  the 
development  of  this  drama.  Striking  across  the  orbit 
of  both  the  great  political  parties,  with  some  of  the 
strength  and  ruthlessness  of  his  old  Radical  days,  Mr. 
Joseph  Chamberlain  put  forward  his  famous  Tariff 
Reform  proposals. 

One  of  the  first  results  of  that  event  was  to  divert  all 
political  energy  for  the  moment  from  Bills  to  debate. 
Both  in  Parliament  and  on  the  platform  from  1903 
to  1906  the  energies  of  public  men  were  mainly  ab- 
sorbed in  that  great  titanic  controversy — so  absorbing 
to  the  British  mind — between  Free  Trade  and  Protec- 
tion. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  shared  this  diversion  with  all 
the  others.  He  was  called  from  progressive  tasks  to 
the  essentially  conservative  business  of  defending  the 


FOR  WALES  AND  FOR  ENGLAND         137 

existing  economic  order.  He  did  it  well.  He  proved 
himself  a  faithful  Free  Trader.  But  this  was  not 
principally  and  specifically  his  especial  task.  In  this 
field  Mr.  Asquith  took  the  lead,  and  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
was  always  his  faithful  "junior." 

But  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  defence  of  Free  Trade  soon 
began  to  develop  a  character  of  its  own.  His  tactics 
gradually  began  to  take  on  a  note  of  attack.  His  de- 
fensive became  an  aggressive. 

He  had  recognised,  from  the  opening  of  the  strug- 
gle, that  the  strength  of  Mr.  Chamberlain's  case  lay  in 
his  frank  recognition  of  the  grim,  shameful  facts  that 
lay  beneath  the  smooth  surface  of  English  life.  He 
realised  that  Mr.  Chamberlain  was  the  first  great 
statesman  to  recognise  fearlessly  the  existence  of  that 
England  which  so  few  statesmen  had  yet  recognised — 
the  England  of  the  poor.  Mr.  Chamberlain,  in  fact, 
had  brought  "Darkest  England"  into  the  political  land- 
scape. 

As  the  campaign  went  on  Mr.  Chamberlain  grew 
bolder  and  bolder  along  these  lines.  He  contended 
that  tariffs,  and  tariffs  alone,  would  provide  the  money 
for  Old  Age  Pensions.  He  hinted  at  even  vaster  boons 
which  were  coming  to  England  if  she  would  only  turn 
her  back  on  that  sour  and  pinchbeck  old  lady — Free 
Trade. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  perceived  at  once  the  danger  of 
this  attack.  He,  at  any  rate,  knew  the  "deep  sighing 
of  the  poor."  He  realised  the  black  abyss  which  lay 
below  the  surface  of  England's  wealth.  He  feared  the 
appeal  to  the  hungry  mouths  of  our  neglected  masses. 

From  that  day  forward  he  set  out  to  prove  that 
Free  Trade  also  could  remedy  poverty — aye !  and 


138  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

remedy  it  all  the  more  easily  because  it  brought  wealth 
in  its  train.  The  great  need  was  that  that  wealth 
should  bear  its  due  burden.  That  was  to  be  his  cure 
for  the  trouble. 

At  that  time  his  phrasing  was  large  and  general. 
He  had  not  yet  worked  out  his  later  plans.  Earlier 
he  had  served  on  the  Rothschild  Pensions  Committee, 
and  he  had  thrown  all  his  energies  into  that  inquiry. 
He  was  ever  studying  the  problems  of  the  land.  But 
he  kept  a  mind  open  to  details.  In  that  year  ( 1904—5) 
he  was  storing  impulse  and  collecting  knowledge,  pre- 
paring for  the  great  moment  that  lay  ahead  of  him. 

That  moment  was  now  to  come. 

In  December  1905  Mr.  Balfour  resigned,  and  Sir 
Henry  Campbell-Bannerman  immediately  undertook 
to  form  a  Ministry. 

It  was  already  clear  that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  must 
be  a  member  of  the  new  Cabinet.  Sir  Henry  offered 
him  the  Presidency  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  he  ac- 
cepted it.  To  the  public  the  appointment  came  as  a 
surprise.  It  seemed  the  last  post  for  that  brilliant 
parliamentary  free-lance,  that  gay  leader  of  forlorn 
hopes. 

They  were  to  find  that,  behind  that  flashing  exterior, 
there  was  a  cooler  personality,  well  fitted  for  the  con- 
trol of  the  calmer  and  shrewder  side  of  our  national 
life. 


CHAPTER  XI 

(1905-1908) 

A    MINISTER 

"If  they  take  part  in  public  life,  the  effect  is  never  indifferent. 
They  either  appear  like  ministers  of  d'Vine  vengeance,  and  their 
course  through  the  world  is  marked  by  desolation  and  oppression, 
by  poverty  and  servitude,  or  they  are  the  guardian  angels  of  the 
country  they  inhabit,  busy  to  avert  even  the  most  distant  evil, 
and  to  maintain  and  procure  peace,  plenty,  and  the  greatest  of 
human  blessings,  liberty." — BOLINGBROKE  in  The  Patriot  King  on 
his  "Chosen  Men." 

THE  Department  which  fell  to  the  control  of  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  on  the  formation  of  the  1905  Liberal 
Administration  presented  no  easy  or  simple  task.  The 
Board  of  Trade  stood  at  a  moment  which  comes  to 
every  great  office  of  State — a  moment  when  it  may 
either  increase  or  decrease,  gather  power  or  lose  it.  Its 
official  name  gave  little  clue  to  the  distracting  combina- 
tion of  powers  varying  from  complete  control  at  one 
end  to  vague  influence  at  the  other.  British  Depart- 
ments are  like  wild-flowers — they  grow  and  spread 
without  plan  or  scheme,  just  as  the  chance  caprice  of 
Parliament  or  some  fugitive  Ministry  may  decide.  It  is 
often  just  a  throw  of  the  dice  as  to  what  new  powers 
or  functions  may  be  laid  upon  them. 

The  Board  of  Trade  had  withered  under  the  shadow 
of  the  great  fiscal  deadlock  of  the  previous  three  years 
( 1903-6) .  Poised  between  two  theories  of  commerce, 

139 


140  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

it  had  lingered  in  the  "doldrums,"  like  a  ship  waiting 
for  a  wind. 

Thus  there  awaited  in  the  pigeon-holes  of  the  office 
a  great  number  of  untouched  and  unfinished  projects, 
loose  ends  of  legislation,  belated  steps  towards  giving 
method  and  authority  to  the  powers  of  that  great 
Department. 

For  the  Board  of  Trade  reflected  in  every  branch 
of  its  administrative  powers  the  spirit  of  the  age  in 
which  it  had  grown  up — the  timid,  tentative,  apologetic 
touch  of  the  nineteenth-century  administrator.  The 
scope  of  its  powers,  indeed,  bulked  vast  and  tremen- 
dous— extending  from  bankrupt  firms  at  one  end  to 
shipping,  railways,  and  labour  at  the  other;  but  over 
all  these  branches  of  national  life  its  sway  was  mild 
and  illusive.  The  very  Consuls  who  control  our  trade 
abroad  were  appointed  and  controlled  by  another 
Department.1 

The  Labour  Department,  founded  in  a  spasm  of 
progress,  was  still  mainly  advisory.  British  railways 
had  to  be  supplicated  rather  than  controlled.  The 
great  shipping  interests  had  discovered  new  sea-ways 
through  obsolete  laws. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  soon  realised  the  opportunity 
that  lay  to  his  hand.  The  time  had  come  to  give  to 
the  Board  of  Trade  a  new  grasp  and  stretch  of  author- 
ity. New  laws  must  be  passed.  But  also,  and  even 
more  important,  there  must  be  a  new  spirit  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  laws  that  existed. 

He  did  not  act  in  a  hurry.  He  spent  his  first  weeks 
in  a  thorough  study  of  the  work  of  the  Board.  He  ap- 
peared little  in  Parliament.  He  took  the  sensible  course 

1The   Foreign  Office,  which  still    (1920)    appoints  them, 


A  MINISTER  141 

of  first  learning  from  the  able  officials  of  the  Board 
the  general  outlines  of  its  functions  and  problems. 

Then,  after  some  months,  he  began  to  legislate ;  but, 
before  bringing  in  his  Bills,  he  developed  what  was  then 
a  new  system  of  preparation  and  anticipation. 

It  had  been  too  often  the  custom  of  Ministers  in 
such  Departments  as  the  Board  of  Trade  to  frame 
Bills  without  consulting  the  interests  concerned.  Here 
was  the  truly  "bureaucratic"  spirit  of  the  olden  days 
— to  assume  that  the  Civil  Service  must  of  necessity 
know  better  than  the  public  about  their  own  business 
— to  enforce  on  great  private  interests  measures  as  to 
which  they  had  never  been  asked  their  opinions,  to 
wait  for  the  inevitable  complaints  and  grievances  until 
it  was  too  late  to  remedy  them  without  public  confes- 
sions of  ignorance  and  folly.  Such  methods  have  been 
responsible  for  many  bad  laws  and  for  many  parlia- 
mentary disasters. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  changed  all  that.  Take  the  first 
question  in  which  he  decided  to  legislate — the  control 
of  merchant  shipping.  Here  he  found  things  in  a  very 
bad  mess.  The  British  merchant  sailor  was  still  far 
behind  most  British  land-workers  both  in  comfort  and 
in  wages.  While  fabulous  fortunes  were  being  made 
by  shipowners,  sailors  were  still  badly  fed,  badly 
housed,  irregularly  paid,  often  cheated  of  their  pay 
altogether.  The  result  was  that  the  more  prosperous 
classes  of  British  wage-earners  were  refusing  to  go  to 
sea  or  leaving  the  sea  as  soon  as  possible.  Our  gigantic 
merchant  fleet,  the  pride  of  the  British  Empire,  was 
already  half  manned  by  foreign  seamen,  whose  ignor- 
ance of  the  English  language  often  put  English  ships 
and  lives  in  grievous  peril. 


142  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Many  efforts  had  been  made  to  remedy  these  things 
— one  by  Mr.  Chamberlain,  still  remembered  at  the 
Board  of  Trade  as  the  best  administrator  up  to  that 
time.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  proposed  to  carry  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain's efforts  to  completion. 

What  had  defeated  all  efforts  up  to  the  present 
moment  was  the  powerful  resistance  of  the  shipowners 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  where  the  rights  of  the 
many  too  often  escheat  to  the  bold  and  flagrant  cham- 
pionship of  the  few. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  determined  to  call  the  shipowners 
together  and  to  consult  them  before  he  introduced  his 
Bill  into  the  House.  But,  if  he  was  to  consult  the 
shipowners,  he  must  also  consult  the  sailors.  So  he 
ended  by  consulting  both  interests  outside  the  House; 
and  this  sensible  method  proved  so  successful  in  the 
case  of  shipping  that  it  soon  became  his  favourite 
method  in  preparing  all  his  Bills,  and  has  now  been 
adopted  by  many  Ministers  as  the  obvious  and  neces- 
sary preliminary  to  legislation. 

In  the  Merchant  Shipping  Act  of  1906,  indeed,  he 
carried  this  process  a  step  further.  Not  only  did  he, 
by  agreement,  establish  for  the  British  sailor  a  new 
charter  of  rights,1  but  he  also  effected  a  new  load-water- 
line  agreement  with  foreign  Governments.  Thereby 
he  established  a  new  precedent  for  international  legis- 
lation. 

The  working  of  the  famous  "Load-line" — so  dra- 
matically secured  by  that  fervent  and  determined  man, 

*A  fixed  standard  of  food  and  ship  accommodation,  a  certificated 
cook  on  board  ship,  a  guarantee  that  distressed  seamen  should  be 
looked  after  and  abandoned  seamen  paid,  a  restriction  on  the  scandal- 
ous practices  of  overloading  and  under-manning,  and  on  the  employ- 
ment of  foreign  sailors. 


A  MINISTER  143 

Mr.  Samuel  Plimsoll,  a  generation  before — had  un- 
doubtedly saved  thousands  of  innocent  lives.  It  had 
given  the  seamen  a  new  guarantee  of  security.  There 
was  always  the  fact  that  a  ship  could  not  be  weighted 
down  below  a  certain  depth.  But  meanwhile  a  new 
evil  had  arisen.  Foreign  ships,  without  the  British 
"Load-line,"  were  using  British  ports  to  snatch  British 
trade.  Deeply  laden  "foreigners"  could  afford  to 
carry  goods  at  lower  freights;  and  Great  Britain  was 
penalised  for  her  humanity. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  determined  to  stop  this.  He 
compromised  the  "Load-line" — raising  it  slightly  for 
British  ships,  but  enforcing  this  modified  line  on  all 
ships  that  came  to  British  ports.  There  were  protests 
from  foreign  Powers.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  proceeded  to 
negotiate.  He  bargained  with  the  right  of  entry  to 
British  ports,  and  finally  he  came  to  an  agreement  with 
most  of  the  great  seafaring  nations  which  enforced  the 
new  "Load-line"  on  all  ships  trading  to  Great  Britain. 

Such  was  the  first  of  the  new  measures  which  came 
from  the  Board  of  Trade  under  his  presidency  and 
passed  through  the  House  of  Commons  in  October  of 
1906.  Now  for  the  first  time  piloting  his  own  meas- 
ures from  the  Treasury  Bench,  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
showed  new  parliamentary  powers  that  astonished  the 
critics.  The  wiseacres  had  shaken  their  heads.  "Too 
much  of  a  rebel  to  govern !"  they  had  said.  "So  accus- 
tomed to  obstruction,  that  he  will  obstruct  himself!" 
said  others,  scoffing.  But  they  were  wrong.  He  de- 
veloped new  powers  of  adroit  persuasiveness  that  sur- 
prised lookers-on.  He  was  patient  and  conciliatory. 
He  could  be  firm  when  necessary;  but  at  other  times 
he  seemed  all  open-mindedness.  He  had  won  his  way 


144  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

very  often  just  when  every  one  else  thought  that  he  had 
lost  it.  He  knew  when  to  sacrifice  details  in  order  to 
win  principles. 

Now  that  the  Board  of  Trade  found  that  they  had 
secured  a  good  law-maker,  the  progressive  officials 
who  distinguish  that  Department  pressed  on  him  other 
tasks.  There  was,  for  instance,  the  question  of  the 
law  of  patents,  crying  for  consolidation  and  amend- 
ment. There,  too,  legislation  was  long  overdue. 

Consolidation  was  easy.  But,  in  looking  into  the 
state  of  the  law,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  soon  discovered 
that  there  was  one  glaring  British  grievance  which  no 
Minister  had  yet  dared  to  touch.  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
refused  to  be  paralysed  by  the  terrorism  of  the  Protec- 
tion controversy.  He  has  never  admitted  the  view  that 
Free  Trade  means  discrimination  against  your  own 
country. 

And  yet  that  was  how  the  existing  patent  law 
worked. 

For  he  found  that  a  custom  had  grown  up  by  which 
foreign  firms  would  employ  a  British  citizen  to  take 
out  a  British  patent  with  the  deliberate  intention  to 
work  it  abroad.  In  that  case  it  could  not  be  worked 
in  Great  Britain.  For  there  was  actually  nothing  in 
British  law  to  prevent  this  British  privilege  from  be- 
coming a  direct  cause  of  loss  to  British  tra'de. 

This  seemed  to  him  intolerable.  Accordingly,  he 
introduced  into  the  Patents  Bill  which  he  brought  into 
the  House  in  1907  the  following  clause:1 

"At  any  time,  not  less  than  four  years  after 
the  date  of  a  patent,  and  not  less  than  one  year 

1  Clause  27,  Patents  Act  of   1907. 


A  MINISTER  145 

after  the  passing  of  this  Act,  any  person  may  ap- 
ply to  the  Comptroller  for  the  revocation  of  the 
patent  on  the  ground  that  the  patented  article 'or 
process  is  manufactured  or  carried  on  exclusively 
or  mainly  outside  the  United  Kingdom." 

Looking  back  on  this  clause  now,  with  all  the  excel- 
lent results  that  have  flowed  from  it,1  it  is  clear  that 
it  represented  the  merest  justice  to  the  British  trader. 
The  Tariff  Reformers  congratulated  Mr,  Lloyd  George 
on  conversion;  the  Free  Traders  reproached  him  for 
desertion.  Neither  had  any  leg  to  stand  on.  The 
mere  fact  of  granting  patents  is,  in  a  sense,  a  form  of 
protection  for  the  patentee.  But  to  ask  that  a  nation 
should  grant  so  great  a  privilege  in  order  that  it  should 
be  used  against  its  own  citizens  is  surely  the  very 
ecstasy  of  "freedom." 

Then,  just  before  leaving  the  Board  of  Trade,  he 
finally  settled  up  the  Port  of  London  by  buying  out 
the  Dock  Companies.  There  again  he  arranged  the 
terms  of  purchase  by  bargaining  before  he  brought  in 
his  Bill. 

One  company  stood  out.  He  went  straight  on  with- 
out that  company.  It  was  awkward;  but  it  would  have 
been  fatal  to  show  weakness.  He  was  just  about  to 
move  the  Second  Reading  of  the  Bill,  leaving  that  com- 
pany out,  when  the  announcement  of  its  agreement  to 
his  terms  was  brought  to  him  in  his  room  at  the  House 
of  Commons  before  he  went  in  to  the  Committee. 
Thus  a  problem  was  settled  which  had  defied  several 
Governments  and  paralysed  London  as  a  port. 

'Many    patents    are    now    being   worked    in    England    which    were 
previously  worked   abroad. 


146  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

"Not  an  ideal  way  of  legislating,"  it  will  be  said. 
Certainly  not.  Nor  was  then  our  Parliament  an  ideal 
legislative  machine. 

In  a  speech  made  at  Liverpool  on  May  24th,  1906, 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  described  how  the  menace  of  the 
Lords  then  threw  its  shadow  over  a«ll  Liberal  policy. 
He  told  how,  in  framing  every  Bill,  the  Cabinet,  even 
before  the  Bill  was  drafted,  had  to  take  the  attitude 
of  the  Upper  Chamber  into  consideration. 

This  was,  in  fact,  still  his  own  governing  considera- 
tion in  these  Board  of  Trade  measures.  He  was  soon 
to  show  that  he  was  quite  ready  to  fight  the  Lords 
when  it  seemed  to  him  a  necessary  stroke  of  high  policy. 
But  he  did  not  believe  in  half-defiances.  So  he  mod- 
elled* these  Board  of  Trade  Bills  to  pass  by  agree- 
ment. 

But,  after  all,  it  was  not  in  law-making-  so  much  as 
in  administration  that  he  was  destined  to  make  his 
highest  reputation  at  the  Board  of  Trade.  It  was 
not  only  that  he  sent  into  every  tentacle  of  the  great 
organism  a  new  vigour  and  intensity  of  purpose;  it 
was  also  that  he  showed  in  a  very  high  degree  a 
genius  for  conciliation  in  great  labour  disputes. 

It  was  in  the  late  autumn  of  1907  that  there  came  to 
him  the  great  test  of  the  threatened  Railway  Strike. 
He  had  just  achieved  in  October  a  very  surprising 
triumph  of  peace-making  at  the  Welsh  Convention  sum- 
moned at  Cardiff  to  denounce  him  for  some  supposed 
weakening  on  Welsh  Disestablishment.  They  were 
just  preparing  to  sacrifice  him  with  his  own  borrowed 
weapons  when  he  appeared  in  the  midst  of  them, 
claimed  to  speak,  and  won  them  over  to  spare  him. 


A  MINISTER  147 

But  all  Englishmen  always  took  it  for  granted  that 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  could  manage  Welshmen.  English 
railwaymen  and  English  railway  directors  seemed  a 
very  different  affair.  For  both  parties  seemed  very 
resolute ;  and  the  powers  of  the  Board  of  Trade  seemed 
remarkably  weak. 

But  the  crisis  was  too  grave  to  consider  legal  powers. 
The  country  was  faced  with  a  paralysis  of  transport. 
Such  an  event  might  prove  a  national  danger. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  swiftly  acted  for  the  nation. 
With  no  power  to  enforce  his  summons,  he  boldly 
called  directors  and  men  to  the  Board  of  Trade  to 
discuss  the  situation.  There  he  held  them  for  days, 
prolonging  the  discussion  by  every  resource  of  per- 
suasion until  the  moods  of  both  parties  were  cooled  to 
a  more  reasonable  temperature.  Then  he  made  his 
proposal — the  famous  Conciliation  Boards — and  he 
won  both  parties  to  agreement. 

Those  who,  like  myself,  saw  much  of  him  from  day 
to  day  during  that  struggle  could  not  but  be  amazed 
at  his  resourcefulness  and  persistence.  He  appeared 
never  to  contemplate  the  possibility  of  a  breakdown. 
He  seemed  one  of  that  rare  band  of  whom  the  Roman 
poet  said — "They  can  because  they  think  they  can." 
It  was  impossible  to  dream  of  failure  in  his  presence. 
Infected  by  his  magic  faith,  weak  men  grew  strong 
and  sceptics  radiated  with  faith.  He  appeared  one 
of  those  of  whom,  in  a  famous  poem,  a  great  English 
singer  has  said  l — 

"Languor  is  not  in  your  heart, 
Weakness  is  not  in  your  word, 

1  Matthew  Arnold  in  "Rugby  Chapel." 


148  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Weariness  not  on  your  brow. 

Ye  alight  in  our  van !  at  your  voice, 

Panic,  despair,  flee  away." 

Here  was  a  tangle  of  time-worn  hatreds:  the  men 
were  suspicious  and  resentful,  the  directors  dogged  and 
prejudiced.  How  bring  together  human  beings  so 
divided?  How  bridge  such  a  gulf? 

Well,  first  he  brought  into  the  conferences  those  men 
who  stood  between  the  quarrelling  parties — the  railway 
managers.  Here  he  found  a  remarkable  body  of  Eng- 
lishmen— alert,  resourceful,  self-made,  unprejudiced. 

How  often  he  used  to  praise  those  railway  man- 
agers! Ten  years  after,  in  a  still  greater  emergency, 
his  mind  went  back  to  those  men;  and  in  the  gravest 
crisis  of  the  Great  War  he  called  them  in  to  aid  the 
hard-pressed  British  lines  in  France. 

What  is  it  that  has  made  Mr.  LloydrGeorge  so  great 
a  conciliator? 

It  is  not  merely  his  power  of  using  speech  for  pur- 
poses of  persuasion.  "Speakers  attack  too  much,"  he 
often  used  to  say.  "They  ought  to  aim  at  persuasion." 
That  has  always  been  his  own  central  aim  in  the  use 
of  speech. 

There  is  also  in  him  an  even  greater  power — the 
power  of  making  two  conflicting  parties  see  one  an- 
other's point  of  view.  That  is  partly  because  they 
learn  to  see  it  through  his  eyes.  It  is  like  some  arrange- 
ment of  looking-glasses  in  which  men  see  one  another's 
faces  at  a  new  and  more  attractive  angle.  There, 
again,  he  works  on  a  theory.  "Men  quarrel  too  much," 


A  MINISTER  149 

I  have  heard  him  say.  "They  become  slaves  to  words 
and  phrases.  They  miss  the  reality." 

It  was  such  beliefs  and  perceptions  that  have  so 
often  made  him  persevere  in  peace-making  when  all 
others  have  given  up  hope. 

In  this  case  of  the  Railway  Strike  of  1907  it  earned 
him  the  universal  applause  of  the  nation,  voiced  by 
King  Edward,  who  always  entertained  a  keen  and 
subtle  admiration  for  good  peacemaking.  For  a  few 
brief  months  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  the  hero  of  the 
nation.  He  seemed  almost  a  case  for  the  warning — 
"Beware  when  all  men  speak  well  of  thee!" 

But  in  the  career  of  this  man  of  storm  it  is  always 
fated  that  no  peaceful  interval  lasts  long.  On  Novem- 
ber 6th  he  settled  the  railway  strike;  on  November 
3Oth  he  lost  his  eldest  daughter  Mair,  the  apple  of 
his  eye.  While  still  bowed  with  that  bitter  grief,  in 
December  he  was  called  to  stop  a  threatened  strike  in 
the  cotton  trade.  He  is  wont  to  say  that  it  was  the 
only  thing  that  saved  him.  But  there  was  clearly  to 
be  no  peace  for  him. 

Then,  four  months  later,  in  April  1908,  Sir  Henry 
Campbell-Bannerman,  broken  by  work  and  domestic 
sorrow,  resigned  the  Premiership,  and  Mr.  Asquith 
stepped  into  his  place.  Mr.  John  (now  Lord)  Morley 
was  offered  the  Chancellorship  of  the  Exchequer,  but 
he  refused  it,  and  that  high  post  was  now  allotted  to 
Mr.  Lloyd  George. 


CHAPTER  XII 

A  GERMAN  TOUR 

"In  small,  truckling  States,  a  timely  compromise  with  power  has 
often  been  the  means,  and  the  only  means,  of  drawling  out  their 
puny  existence:  but  a  great  State  is  too  much  envied,  too  much 
dreaded  to  find  safety  in  humiliation.  To  be  secure,  it  must  be 
respected.  Power,  and  eminence,  and  consideration,  are  things 
not  to  be  begged.  They  must  be  commanded." — EDMUND  BURKE, 
Letter  1  on  A  Regicide  Peace. 

IN  the  late  summer  of  1908,  at  the  end  of  the  parlia- 
mentary session,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  traversed  Germany 
from  west  to  east  and  from  south  to  north.  It  was 
a  very  thorough  and  systematic  motor-tour.  He  was 
the  travelling  guest  of  Mr.  (now  Sir)  Charles  Henry,1 
a  Member  of  Parliament  of  great  public  spirit  and 
strong  Liberal  views,  who  invited  me  also  to  accom- 
pany the  party.  It  was  a  journey  of  profound  interest 
for  us  all.  The  object  of  the  tour  was  to  investigate 
the  German  system  of  National  Insurance.  Parlia- 
ment had  just  passed  the  Old  Age  Pensions  Act;  and 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  had  already  publicly  promised  to 
round  off  the  British  pension  system  by  a  general 
scheme  of  national  insurance.  Before  drafting  the 
actual  Bills  he  wished  to  make  a  complete  study  of 
that  very  comprehensive  system  which  had  been  operat- 
ing in  Germany  since  1893.  The  German  Government 
gave  us  access  to  all  their  Central  State  Insurance 
Offices,  and  gave  us  facilities  for  interviewing  all  their 

1Died  January,   1920. 
ISO 


A  GERMAN  TOUR  151 

leading  Insurance  civil  servants.  We  visited  most  of 
the  largest  towns  of  the  German  Empire,  and  had  con- 
versations with  employers  and  workmen — Socialists 
and  trade  unionists — as  well  as  with  officials.  Never 
was  a  statesman's  holiday  spent  in  a  more  thorough  in- 
vestigation of  a  great  problem  of  the  lives  of  the 
people. 

We  started  the  motor  tour  in  France.  We  trained 
to  Amiens,  where  the  motor  met  us,  and  travelled  on 
the  great  northern  French  national  roads  through  the 
very  region  where  so  much  of  the  fighting  has  taken 
place  during  the  last  three  years — through  Compiegne, 
Soissons,  along  the  valley  of  the  Aisne  to  Rheims, 
where  we  visited  the  Cathedral — that  great  master- 
piece of  Gothic  architecture  which  has  since  suffered 
such  sacrilegious  injury.  Thence  we  travelled  south 
by  Chalons-sur-Marne,  following  the  river  valley  by 
Vitry  and  Bar-le-Duc.  We  crossed  the  Meuse  and 
passed  through  Nancy,  that  most  lovely  of  valley  fron- 
tier towns,  which  has  since  so  bravely  borne  such  fierce 
enemy  attacks.  Nancy  looked  very  peaceful  on  that 
August  day' when  we  passed  through  her  pretty  streets 
and  pressed  on  towards  the  Vosges  Mountains,  hoping 
to  reach  Strassburg  that  evening. 

At  that  point  we  made  a  happy  miscalculation  in 
our  time;  and  we  were  benighted  in  a  little  French 
village  just  on  the  edge  of  the  frontier  at  the  very 
summit  of  the  Vosges.  We  found  that  we  could  get 
supper  and  beds  at  one  of  those  clean  little  auberges 
which  are  scarcely  ever  lacking  in  the  smallest  French 
village.  As  we  supped* on  the  excellent  meal  of  bouillon 
and  cutlets  improvised  by  the  ready  hostess,  she  stood 
and  talked  to  us.  She  spoke  to  us  of  the  memories  of 


152  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

1870—71,  when  the  tide  of  war  had  so  swiftly  passed 
by  that  little  village.  She  was  a  school  child  at  that 
time,  and  she  had  missed  two  years  of  her  schooling. 
For  the  Germans  had  remained  in  occupation  of  that 
part  of  the  country  on  the  Vosges  frontier  for  fully 
a  year  after  the  end  of  the  war.  The  withdrawal  of 
the  army  took  place,  Department  by  Department,  as 
the  indemnity  was  paid;  and  this  Department  was  the 
last  to  be  evacuated.  Before  the  war  she  was  living 
well  within  France;  at  the  end  she  found  herself  on 
the  edge  of  the  new  frontier. 

We  asked  her  how  she  managed  to  make  an  inn  pay 
at  such  a  spot.  "Oh,  quite  easily,"  she  said.  "We  are 
kept  going  by  the  people  of  French  birth  who  come 
up  on  Sundays  from  Alsace!"  "Why?"  "Oh,  just 
to  feel  the  joy  of  living  for  a  day  on  French  soil !" 

Next  day  we  motored  down  to  Strassburg,  climbed 
the  towers,  and  saw  the  marks  of  the  German  shells 
fired  nearly  forty  years  before,  and  spent  a  pleasant 
afternoon  in  the  picturesque  streets  of  that  ancient 
town.  As  far  as  man  could  do  it  Alsace  had  been 
painted  black,  white  and  red  with  Teuton  colours.  No- 
where in  the  streets  of  Strassburg  did  we  observe  any 
sign  or  notice  in  any  language  but  German.  Every- 
where were  German  soldiers,  and  in  the  evening  we 
attended  a  concert  of  massed  German  bands  at  which 
•the  music  was  purely  Teuton,  and  Teuton  of  the  most 
patriotic  kind.  But  the  people  seemed  to  us  to  listen 
with  a  certain  strange  dull  indifference  to  all  this  brazen 
wooing;  and  beneath  the  surface  we  seemed  to  hear  the 
whisper  of  a  coming  storm.  Next  day,  motoring  across 
the  country,  we  had  occasion  to  ask  the  way  from 
an  Alsatian  peasant.  The  question  was  asked  in  Ger- 


A  GERMAN  TOUR  153 

man,  but  one  of  the  party  slipped  in  with  French.  The 
peasant's  face  instantly  lighted  up.  "Ah!  do  the  gen- 
tlemen speak  in  French?"  he  said.  "Ah!  I  prefer  to 
speak  in  that  language  myself."  So  little  had  all  the 
arts  of  suppression  succeeded  in  crushing  the  spirit 
of  that  race. 

At  Stuttgart  we  were  witnesses  of  a  strange  event, 
which  comes  now  back  to  memory  with  a  significance 
which  was  then  hidden.  Count  Zeppelin  was  then  ex- 
perimenting with  his  airships,  and  one  of  those  new 
miracles  had  been  advertised  to  start  on  a  voyage  from 
a  spot  near  Stuttgart.  The  whole  town  had  flooded 
out  in  a  vast  multitude  to  see  the  airship  make  a  start; 
but  at  the  critical  moment  there  arose  a  hurricane  of 
wind.  The  ship  was  torn  from  its  moorings  and  fell 
in  utter  wreckage  and  confusion  in  the  midst  of  the 
crowd.  We  arrived  on  the  scene  just  after  this  had 
happened,  and  met  the  people  returning  from  witness- 
ing the  disaster.  What  was  notable  about  that  multi- 
tude was  the  passion  of  grief  which  at  that  moment  was 
sweeping  over  them.  It  was  as  if  they  had  all  suffered 
some  acute  personal  loss.  Men  and  women  were  ges- 
ticulating, some  were  almost  weeping;  all  their  faces 
were  troubled  and  perplexed.  As  the  people  coming 
from  the  city  met  those  returning  we  could  hear  excla- 
mations of  sorrow  and  almost  of  anguish.  "Ah!" 
they  cried,  "is  the  airship  down?  What  a  horrible 
calamity!"  We  heard  afterwards  that  the  crowd  sur- 
rounding the  airship  had  just  sung  that  famous  na- 
tional hymn,  "Deutschland  iiber  alles."  They  had 
been  worked  up  to  ecstasy  when  the  airship  crashed. 

So  we  motored  through  that  land  in  that  happy 
peace  time,  little  foreboding  all  the  great  calamities 


154  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

that  were  to  break  from  that  storm-centre  on  to  an 
unsuspecting  world. 

Bethmann-Hollweg  was  at  that  time  "Home  Secre- 
tary," a  vigorous,  amiable  Minister  of  the  official  kind, 
sincerely  keen  on  social  reforms;  a  Junker  of  the  better 
type.  He  treated  Mr.  Lloyd  George  with  great 
courtesy^  He  returned  from  his  holiday,  and  specially 
entertained  him  and  his  party  in  the  famous  restau- 
rant at  the  Zoological  Gardens  at  Berlin.  He  invited 
many  eminent  members  of  the  German  Civil  Service 
to  meet  us.  Every  one  was  very  gracious  and  polite 
— almost  too  polite  for  comfort.  After  dinner  we  went 
into  a  large  reception-room,  and  there  we  remained 
standing  all  the  evening  talking  and  looking  at  one 
another.  Towards  the  end  of  the  evening  we  began 
to  feel  very  fatigued.  I  ventured  to  ask  one  of  the 
German  officials  whether  it  would  be  the  correct  thing 
to  sit  down.  "Oh!"  he  said.  "We  have  all  been  wait- 
ing for  you  to  sit  down!  We,  too,  are  very  tired!" 

In  the  middle  of  this  rivalry  in  fatigue,  they  brought 
round  great  glasses  of  foaming  beer  in  Prussian 
fashion.  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  who  is  almost  a  teeto- 
taler, looked  at  the  glasses  with  a  scared  expression. 
Then  suddenly  his  face  grew  resolute.  "We  must 
show  that  Great  Britain  is  not  to  be  left  behind!" 

Bethmann-Hollweg  did  not  talk  politics  until  to- 
wards the  end  of  dinner.  The  conversation  drifted 
to  King  Edward's  visit  to  the  Russian  Czar  at  Reval. 
That  visit  had  caused  a  great  ferment  in  Germany,  and 
grave  suspicions  of  British  intentions.  Bethmann- 
Hollweg  voiced  those  suspicions  in  the  frankest  man- 
ner. "You  are  trying  to  encircle  us!"  he  cried  to  Mr. 


A  GERMAN  TOUR  155 

Lloyd   George.      "You   and   France   and   Russia   are 
attempting  to  strangle  us !" 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  assured  him  of  the  friendliness 
of  Great  Britain  towards  all  the  great  Powers;  but 
for  the  moment  he  refused  to  be  appeased.  He 
thumped  the  table  with  his  hand.  "The  Prussian  Gov- 
ernment has  only  to  lift  a  finger,"  he  cried,  "and  every 
living  Prussian  will  die  for  the  Fatherland!" 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  listened  to  all  this  with  his  char- 
acteristic calmness  and  good-humour.  "But  what  about 
the  other  Germans?"  he  put  in  at  this  point. 

A  shadow  passed  over  the  face  of  the  Prussian 
Minister. 

"Oh!  they?"  he  said  with  a  gesture.  "They,  too, 
will  come  along!" 

But  this  was  only  a  flash.  On  the  whole,  Bethmann- 
Hollweg  was  very  friendly;  and  the  facts  of  his  family 
life  showed  him  Anglophile.  He  had  sent  his  son  to 
an  English  University;  and  admiration  for  English 
education  was,  curiously  enough,  just  at  that  moment 
almost  as  much  a  fashion  in  Germany  as  admiration  for 
German  education  in  England.  When  we  were  lunch- 
ing with  a  judge  at  Frankfort  Mr.  Lloyd  George  dis- 
covered that  the  daughter  of  the  house  had  actually 
been  at  school  along  with  his  own  daughter  at  the 
famous  English  girls'  school  near  Brighton — Roedean. 

Of  course,  it  is  always  foolish  to  imagine  that  social 
courtesies  seriously  affect  the  grave  pursuit  of  national 
interests  in  any  country.  But  they  produce  a  friendly 
atmosphere;  and  he  would  be  a  criminal  who,  with 
all  the  causes  of  difference  and  conflict  in  the  world, 
did  not  always  try  to  improve  the  human  atmos- 
phere. 


156  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

The  people  of  Hamburg  were  remarkably  friendly 
to  us.  The  merchants  trading  with  England  gave  us 
an  especially  enthusiastic  reception.  They  feasted  us 
at  a  banquet  at  which  sat  the  Hamburg  Prussian  Min- 
ister— for  Berlin  keeps  a  Ministry  in  the  "Free 
Towns"  as  a  last  relic  of  their  former  independence. 

It  was  on  the  occasion  of  that  banquet  that  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  threw  out  the  idea  of  regulating  arma- 
ments by  a  Plimsoll  "Load-line"  fixed  according  to 
population.  It  is  strange  to-day  to  remember  with 
what  enthusiasm  that  suggestion  was  received  by  the 
Hamburg  merchants. 

The  authorities  of  Hamburg  provided  a  launch  to 
take  us  into  every  corner  of  their  famous  port,  so  as 
to  show  us  all  the  power  and  pride  of  their  new 
creation — with  all  its  marvellous  up-to-date  devices 
for  handling  ships  and  cargoes,  its  wonderful  new  docks 
and  elevators,  its  ingenious  and  multifarious  resources 
for  expediting  sea-traffic.  It  was  good  to  see  that 
port;  if  only  to  realise  the  wisdom  of  the  King's  advice 
to  us  at  home — "Wake  up,  Britain!" 

It  is  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  part  played  by  the 
personality  of  the  Kaiser  in  German  imperial  politics 
at  that  moment.  If  one  probed  any  great  German 
question  to  the  bottom,  one  always  came  back  to  that 
fact.  Take  the  question  of  the  Navy — that  vital 
Anglo-German  problem  of  the  early  century.  The 
Army  chiefs  were,  I  think,  quite  ready  to  contemplate 
a  naval  "deal,"  if  only  to  keep  England  out  of  the 
land-wars  of  the  Continent.  The  Social  Democrats,  of 
course,  were  more  than  willing;  they  were  anti-naval 
as  well  as  anti-militarist.  But  to  the  Kaiser  the  Navy 


&  GERMAN  TOUR  157 

was  always  prime  favourite ;  it  was  his  toy,  his  darling 
dream,  his  cherished  ambition.  His  sincerest  belief 
and  hopes  were  expressed  in  the  phrase,  "Our  future 
lies  on  the  ocean."  He  stimulated  the  popular  zeal 
for  the  Navy  in  every  possible  way.  The  Nord 
Deutsche  Lloyd  Liners  had  elaborate  pictures  com- 
paring the  respective  navies,  and  showing  the  smallness 
of  the  German  in  comparison  with  ours ;  the  great  Ger- 
man Navy  League  was  constantly  pushed  forward;  and 
no  Minister  could  long  remain  in  power  who  did  not 
sympathise  with  this  cult.  The  curious  thing  was  that 
the  German  populations  along  the  sea-board  were  not 
half  so  enthusiastic  for  the  Navy  as  the  inland  popula- 
tions, who  seemed  enthusiastic  in  proportion  to  their 
ignorance  of  the  sea. 

Many  Germans  used  to  put  down  the  Kaiser's  pas- 
sion for  the  Navy  to  his  English  blood.  He  was  a 
very  enthusiastic  yachtsman;  and,  as  most  yachtsmen 
are  Englishmen,  that  threw  him  into  constant  relations 
of  intimacy  with  English  sailor-men.  The  English 
yachtsmen  on  the  North  Sea  found  him  almost  excessive 
in  his  friendliness.  I  remember  an  instance  given  to 
me  by  a  famous  English  yachtsman,  fond  of  cruising 
in  northern  waters.  A  German  tofpedo-boat  had  acci- 
dentally one  evening  broken  the  bowsprit  of  his  yacht. 
During  the  night,  while  the  owner  was  asleep,  a  body 
of  carpenters  came  on  board  of  the  English  yacht  and 
mended  the  bowsprit.  In  the  morning,  after  break- 
fast, the  Kaiser  arrived  himself.  He  had  sent  the  car- 
penters. "Well !"  he  said,  "how  do  you  like  your  new 
bowsprit?"  Then  he  looked  at  it  whimsically.  "When 
you  go  back  to  England,"  he  said,  "tell  them  it  was 
'made  in  Germany' !" 


158  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

And  yet  at  that  very  time  this  friendliness  towards 
English  yachtsmen — of  which  this  was  only  one  ex- 
ample— was  not  preventing  the  Kaiser  from  regarding 
the  British  naval  power  with  a  haunting  jealousy  that 
led  him  into  the  constant  intrigues  against  England,  of 
which  we  gain  a  glimpse  in  the  secret  correspondence 
discovered  in  the  palace  of  the  Russian  Czar. 

The  Kaiser,  indeed,  was  at  that  time  always  a  great 
trouble  to  all  the  diplomats.  He  was  like  a  perpetual 
cracker  explosively  zig-zagging  about  in  all  the  Foreign 
Offices  of  Europe.  Nobody  ever  knew  what  he  would 
do  or  say — to  whom  he  would  talk,  and  with  whom  he 
would  correspond.  He  had  a  touch  of  freakish  irre- 
sponsibility. "I  always  knew  that  Willy  would  come 
to  no  good,"  sighed  an  English  Princess  of  the  old 
school;  and  she  seemed  to  have  an  eye  for  character. 
After  Agadir,  he  calmly  protested  that  the  British 
Government  had  no  right  to  object,  as  he  had  told  some 
one  of  his  intentions  when  he  was  visiting  the  British 
Court!  His  telegram  to  President  Wilson  seems  to 
show  that  he  carried  this  view  of  the  British  Con- 
stitution right  up  to  the  eve  of  the  Great  War. 

"He  is  a  bad  neighbour,"  said  an  official  of  the 
British  Foreign  Office  at  that  time;  and  that  really 
seemed  to  sum  it  up. 

His  constant  changes  of  mood  made  German  foreign 
policy  very  difficult  to  forecast,  and  I  do  not  think  that 
any  one  can  claim  to  have  foreseen  the  future. 

The  German  officials  told  me  that  they  had  never 
had  a  visitor  with  a  quicker  mind  than  Mr.  Lloyd 
George.  After  a  long  day  spent  in  the  Central  In- 
surance Office  at  Berlin,  the  men  who  went  round  with 


A  GERMAN  TOUR  159 

us  were  very  enthusiastic.  "He  grasps  the  system  more 
rapidly  than  any  student  we  have  ever  had."  Mr. 
Lloyd  George,  indeed,  made  a  very  exhaustive  study 
of  the  German  system.  But  in  his  Act  he  improved 
upon  it  and  added  to  it  in  many  important  respects.1 

It  was  a  strange  visit,  curious  to  look  back  upon  at 
this  distance  of  time.  Our  days  were  filled  with  the 
insistent  calls  of  a  great  social  inquiry.  But  we  could 
not  ignore  another  aspect.  After  all,  there  was  a 
greater  problem  darkening  the  air  than  insurance 
against  individual  sickness  and  unemployment.  What 
about  insurance  against  another  and  greater  human 
sickness — the  sickness  of  war?  The  thought  of  that 
kept  recurring,  like  a  secondary  theme  in  some  piece  of 
music. 

The  impressions  gained  during  this  tour  (1908) 
partly  account,  no  doubt,  for  the  firmness  of  Mr.  Lloyd 
George's  language  in  that  famous  City  speech  with 
which,  after  consultation  with  Sir  Edward  Grey,  he 
faced  the  German  Agadir  threat  in  1911.  He  himself 
always  contended  at  the  time  that  that  speech  saved 
Europe  from  war.  A  firm,  clear,  real  attitude — an 
attitude  that  would  convince  Germany  that  we  meant 
what  we  said — that  is  what  he  always  in  those  days 
advocated.  He  argued  that  here  was  the  most  positive 
realistic  Power  in  the  world — with  no  regard  for  sen- 
timentalism  or  even  humanity  where  the  interests  of 
Germany  were  concerned.  Very  well;  let  us  treat  them 
as  they  treated  us.  Let  them  know  definitely  where  we 

JHe  raised   the   level   of  the   sick  benefit;   he   added  several  new 
benefits;  and  he  paid  the  doctors  better. 


160  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

stood.  Let  our  language  to  them  be  plain  and  frank. 
They  would  respect  us  all  the  more  for  it. 

He  was  very  fiercely  attacked  for  this  speech  by  the 
pacifists  at  the  time,  both  in  public  and  private.  He 
made  a  characteristic  reply  to  their  pin-pricks.  "Per- 
haps it  would  have  been  better  if  I  had  not  made  the 
speech!  There  would  have  been  war,  and  the  Prussian 
bully  would  have  got  the  thrashing  he  deserves!" 

Then,  as  since,  nothing  irritated  and  angered  him 
more  than  the  attitude  of  Germany  to  France.  "It  is 
simply  persecution!"  he  used  to  say.  "The  world  can- 
not be  carried  on  along  these  lines!" 

So  he  had  already  a  dim  perception  of  the  great  issue 
which  was  so  soon  to  divide  the  world. 

Between  1908  and  1914  came  that  "Turtle  Dove" 
period  (1912-1914)  during  which  Germany  wooed  us. 
Never  had  Germany  been  more  friendly  to  Great  Bri- 
tain than  she  was  in  the  spring  of  that  fatal  year, 
1914;  never  had  our  relations  been  more  smooth ;  never 
had  her  protestations  of  affection  been  more  numerous. 
The  change  from  1911  was  almost  startling. 

Perhaps  it  ought  to  have  startled  us  more.  It  is  so 
easy  to  be  sages  after  the  accomplished  fact.  But  it  is 
not  often  that  the  architects  of  suspicion  build  wisely; 
their  day  comes  once  in  a  while,  and  they  rejoice  exceed- 
ingly. It  is,  perhaps,  the  worst  crime  of  Germany  that 
she  has  strengthened  that  sinister  creed  of  doubt,  and 
lowered  faith  between  man  and  man. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

CIVIL  STRIFES 

"It  gives  me  a  serious  concern  to  see  such  a  Spirit  of  Disse.ition 
in  the  Country;  not  only  as  it  destroys  Virtue  and  Common  Sense, 
and  renders  us  in  a  manner  Barbarians  towards  one  another,  but 
as  it  perpetuates  our  Animosities,  widens  our  Breaches,  and 
transmits  our  present  Passions  and  Prejudices  to  our  Posterity. 
For  my  own  Part,  I  am  sometimes  afraid  that  I  discover  the  Seeds 
of  a  Civil  War  in  these  our  Divisions ;  and  therefore  cannot  but 
bewail  as  in  their  first  Principles  the  Miseries  and  Calamities  of 
our  Children." — ADDISON  in  the  Spectator,  July  25th,  1711. 

DURING  his  foreign  tour  in  1908  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
always  carried  with  him  a  small  pocketbook,  in  which 
he  jotted  down  ideas  and  suggestions  as  they  came  to 
him  in  thought  or  talk.  These  were  jottings  for  that 
great  Budget  of  which  he  already  perceived  the  neces- 
sity. 

For  when  he  took  over  the  Treasury  in  April  1908, 
he  found  British  finance  at  the  parting  of  the  ways. 
Old  Age  Pensions  had  just  been  promised;  a  Bill  was 
already  drafted  on  non-tributory  lines.  He  quite  ap- 
proved. But  no  provision  had  been  made  in  the  Budget 
of  1908  to  pay  for  this  great  social  boon.1 

Here  was  a  great  opportunity  for  the  Tariff  Reform 
cause,  at  that  time  still  languishing  from  the  staggering 
blow  of  1906.  It  was  up  to  Free  Trade  to  show  that 
it  could  meet  the  coming  deficit. 

1  Old  Age  Pensions  were  then  estimated  to  cost  £9,000,000,  but 
were  found  to  cost  £13,000,000  (now  (1920)  £28,000,000).  There 
was  also  the  new  Dreadnoughts,  and  so  forth.  The  deficit  for  1909 
thus  amounted  to  £16,000,000  even  in  prospect. 

161 


162  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

We  all  know  how  Mr.  Lloyd  George  faced  that  crisis 
at  the  Exchequer — by  what  audacious  drafts  on  the 
great  reserves  of  our  national  wealth — by  what  de- 
termined levies  on  the  luxuries  of  all  classes.  The 
Budget  of  1909  is  still  one  of  the  landmarks  of  Eng- 
lish history.  Its  rejection  by  the  Lords  and  its  final 
triumph  in  the  first  General  Election  of  1910  are  thrice 
told  tales. 

How  did  Mr.  Lloyd  George  bear  himself  through 
the  stress  of  these  tremendous  evils? 

He  did  not  spare  himself.  He  bore  the  burden  of 
the  midnight  sitting  as  well  as  of  the  day  labour.  He 
revolutionised  the  habits  of  the  Treasury. 

He  had  now  left  his  private  house  and  come  to  live 
in  Downing  Street.  His  life  was  practically  lived  in 
public.  It  was  at  about  this  time  that  he  instituted 
his  famous  habit  of  breakfast  parties  at  which  the 
affairs  of  the  nation  were  discussed.  Strenuous  gath- 
erings were  these,  opening  with  merry  chaff,  but  soon 
passing  to  earnest  debate  and  discussion  over  coffee 
and  bacon — debates  always  human  and  thrilling,  en- 
livened by  the  swift  jest  and  epigram  of  the  host, 
always  one  of  the  best  of  talkers.  But  he  never  allowed 
these  talks  to  drift  into  triviality.  He  always  directed 
them  to  moulding  and  shaping  policy.  He  compelled 
his  guests  to  face  vital  decisions. 

Great  gatherings!  Where  the  best  of  the  nation 
met,  not  with  idle  gossip  or  silly  scandal,  but  with  high 
converse  and  swift,  eager  discourse,  ever  touched  with 
hope  and  light! 

He  could  not  have  lived  this  strenuous  life  without 
some  relaxation.  He  found  it,  like  so  many  other  busy 
moderns,  in  golf.  It  was  shortly  after  the  opening  of 


CIVIL  STRIFES  163 

the  twentieth  century  that  he  took  to  this  game,  and 
found  in  it  his  physical  salvation.  Up  to  1900  he  had 
never  been  robust.  Often  he  had  long  periods  of  ill- 
health.  But  the  steady  tramps  round  those  wonderful 
courses  that  now  surround  London  made  a  great 
change.  Golf  has  given  him  a  tough  physique,  equal  to 
resisting  great  strains. 

Those  of  us  who,  during  1909,  worked  in  the 
"Budget  League"  to  help  forward  this  great  cause  saw 
something  of  the  energy  and  resourcefulness  which 
went  to  achieve  the  hardly  won  victory  of  the  first  1910 
General  Election. 

One  of  our  methods  was  to  cover  England  with 
posters.  I  remember  one  glorious  poster  of  an  ermined 
and  coroneted  duke.  We  were  very  proud  of  it.  But 
it  passed  through  great  troubles.  Mr.  Winston 
Churchill  protested  against  it  because  it  was  too  much 
like  his  cousin,  the  Duke  of  Marlborough.  So  we 
changed  the  face  and  darkened  the  colouring.  The  re- 
sult was  that  the  new  duke  came  out  precisely  like  our 
splendid  and  energetic  chief,  Sir  Henry  Norman,  M.P. ! 

All  this  poster  business  was  very  expensive.  We 
spent  till  we  were  exhausted;  we  swamped  the  Budget 
Protest  League  in  paste.  But,  however  much  money 
we  spent,  we  got  more  money.  We  only  had  to  send 
across  to  Downing  Street.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  seemed 
to  have  the  key  to  the  treasures  of  Golconda.  He 
had  the  amazing  gift  of  being  able  to  persuade  mil- 
lionaires to  subscribe  in  order  to  be  taxed. 

The  Liberal  Cabinet,  as  a  whole,  refused  to  believe 
that  the  Lords  would  throw  out  the  Budget;  and  it 
was  steadily  set  about  through  the  summer  of  1909 
that  Mr.  Balfour  and  Lord  Lansdowne  were  in  favour 


164  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

of  passing  it.  But  Mr.  Lloyd  George  persisted  in  be- 
lieving the  contrary.  "They  will  throw  it  out  all 
right!"  he  would  always  say  cheerfully  enough;  and  the 
only  shadow  that  would  pass  over  his  face  would  come 
when  some  one  would  half  convince  him  to  the  con- 
trary. I  believe  that  up  to  September  there  was  some 
real  doubt.  But  then  the  Tariff  Reform  League  came 
into  the  fight;  the  first  flush  of  the  Budget  popularity 
seemed  to  pass;  our  street-corner  orators  were  met  by 
rivals — often  hired  Socialists;  and  the  "Die-hards" 
grew  more  powerful.  The  Lords  determined  to  face 
the  great  risk.  They  threw  out  the  Budget  in  Novem- 
ber; Mr.  Asquith  was  forced  to  dissolve;  and  in 
January  1910  came  the  General  Election. 

The  Lords  nearly  won.  The  Liberals  emerged  with 
a  diminished  majority  of  124  as  compared  with  the 
1906  majority  of  354,  meaning  a  loss  of  115  seats, 
and  a  turn-over  of  230  votes. 

For  a  moment  this  fall  in  the  majority  shook  the 
constancy  even  of  that  strong  Cabinet.  There  was 
talk  of  resignation.  Even  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  bit- 
ten for  a  moment  by  the  idea  of  substituting  House  of 
Lords  Reform  for  the  policy  of  the  Parliament  Bill. 

In  a  few  weeks  they  steadied.  They  found  that 
if  they  were  disappointed,  the  other  side  were  more 
so.  The  Lords  had  staked  all;  the  Tariff  Reformers 
had  assured  a  win.  The  Opposition  was  as  much 
"down"  as  the  Government. 

It  was  fated  that  a  tragic  event  should  give  sudden 
pause  to  this  rending  strife.  Just  when  the  first  shadow 
of  civil  war  was  falling  across  the  nation,  on  May  6tH, 
1910,  King  Edward  died.  The  presence  of  death 
brought  a  calmer  mood;  men  saw  realities  for  a  mo- 


CIVIL  STRIFES  165 

ment,  and  shrank  from  the  edge  of  the  abyss.  They 
were  like  travellers  from  whose  path  the  mist  sud- 
denly clears,  and  lo !  they  find  themselves  stumbling 
along  the  edge  of  a  precipice. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  made  a  suggestion  to  the  new 
King  which  was  taken  up  and  resulted  in  the  remark- 
able conference  of  party  leaders  which  lasted  from 
June  to  November  1910.  It  was  a  pause  of  halcyon 
calm  in  the  midst  of  storm. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  a  member  of  that  conference; 
he  was  always  among  those  who  took  a  sanguine  view 
of  its  prospects;  and  he  has  always  infinitely  regretted 
its  failure.  He  took  a  long  view.  He  foresaw  the 
civil  perils  that  lay  ahead  of  the*  country.  He  was 
ready  to  come  to  a  large  and  comprehensive  settle- 
ment. He  knew  that  a  settlement  could  not  mean 
a  victory  for  either  side.  '  He  was  ready  to  accept 
that  view;  and  there  were  those  on  the  other  side — 
especially  one,  Mr.  Arthur  Balfour — who  were  large 
enough  to  accept  it  also. 

But  neither  of  the  great  parties,  organised  for  com- 
bat and  victory,  could  be  brought  to  the  height  of  so 
great  a  treaty.  The  secrecy  of  the  conference  had  been 
perhaps  all  too  faithfully  observed.  There  had  been 
no  "spade-work"  in  preparing  the  parties  for  a  self- 
denying  ordinance  so  sweeping.  The  "Snakes"  they 
say,  "committed  suicide  to  save  themselves  from 
slaughter."  But  in  this  case  both  parties  still  hoped  for 
life  and  victory. 

So,  in  November  1910,  the  conflict  was  resumed; 
and  in  December  there  took  place  the  second  General 
Election — this  time,  by  agreement  between  the  Prime 
Minister  and  the  King,  a  test  Election  on  the  Veto 


166  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Bill.  The  decision  of  January  was  practically  re- 
peated; and  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  again  leaving  his  elec- 
tioneering chances  in  Carnarvonshire  to  his  local 
friends,  was  returned  by  a  second  sweeping  majority.1 

The  second  Election  proved  too  much  even  for  the 
strength  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George.  After  speaking  up 
in  Scotland  with  a  strong  fever  actually  on  him,  he  was 
struck  with  a  touch  of  serious  throat  trouble.  His 
voice  was  threatened.  After  many  efforts  to  go  on,  he 
finally  accepted  the  verdict  of  seclusion,  and  spent  a 
prolonged  rest  in  a  spacious,  restful  mansion  behind 
the  Sussex  downs,  lent  to  him  by  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir 
Arthur)  Markham.  He  grew  to  a  genuine  love  of  this 
peaceful  life;  and  when  he  returned  to  the  turmoil, 
it  was  with  a  certain  reluctance. 

Driven  back  on  reading  as  his  sole  diversion,  he 
rambled  widely  through  literature  and  read  a  great  deal 
of  history. 

But  his  chief  occupation  during  these  months  was 
the  preparation  of  the  famous  Insurance  Bill  of  1911. 

All  who  saw  much  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George  at  that 
time  knew  that  that  measure  was  inspired  by  nothing 
less  than  a  profound  compassion  for  the  sick  and  the 
suffering — a  passion  sobered  by  reflection,  but  still 
burning  with  an  intense  fire  behind  all  his  cool  and 
calculated  moves. 

He  was  moved  by  a  spirit  best  expressed  in  Blake's 
golden  verse: 

1  His  majorities  in  the  Carnarvon  Boroughs  have  been  rising  on 
the  whole  steadily  since  the  first  election  in  1890.  In  1892  he  de- 
feated Sir  John  Puleston  by  196,  as  against  18  in  1890.  In  1895 
he  again  defeated  Mr.  Nanney  by  194,  In  1900  he  defeated  Colonel 
Platt  by  296.  In  1906  he  won  by  1,224;  'n  January  1910  by  1,078; 
in  December  by  1,208. 


CIVIL  STRIFES  167 

"I  will  not  cease  from  mental  strife, 

Nor  shall  my  sword  sleep  in  my  hand, 
Till  we  have  built  Jerusalem 

In  England's  green  and  pleasant  land." 

Before  drafting  the  Bill  he  took  a  prolonged  and 
careful  survey  of  the  condition  of  the  people:  in  Mr. 
Charles  Booth's  books,  in. the  Poor  Law  Commission 
Reports,  and  from  every  possible  source  of  the  written 
and  spoken  word.  He  was  appalled;  and  he  expected 
every  one  else  to  be  appalled.  Carried  forward  by  his 
own  emotion,  he  did  not  perhaps  realise  the  power  of 
familiarity,  the  force  of  usage,  the  strength  of  vested 
interest. 

He  was  greatly  surprised  and  disappointed  by  the 
attitude  of  the  doctors.  He  had  always  held  the  medi- 
cal profession  in  the  highest  admiration  l  ;  and  per- 
haps he  expected  more  from  them  than  any  organised 
profession  could  supply.  He  had  been  so  absorbed  by 
conferences  with  the  Friendly  Societies  that  he  perhaps 
did  not  sufficiently  realise  the  importance  of  constant  *  / 
consultations  with  the  doctors  in  the  preparation  of  his  *t^to  -3 

schemes. 

He  was  also  sincerely  surprised  at  the  attitude 
of  the  well-to-do  classes.  He  had  imagined  that  the 
enforcement  of  contributions  would  disarm  their  hos- 
tility. As  it  was,  he  lost  on  both  sides;  though  he 
never  regretted  his  decision  in  favour  of  contributions. 
With  all  his  sympathy — perhaps  because  of  it — he 
entertained  a  great  horror  of  a  pauperised  working- 
class. 

Here,  too,  he  had  to  face  a  revolt  of  the  timid  with- 
in his  own  party,  There  arose  in  the  autumn  of  1911 

1  There   is    a    remarkable    and    eloquent    passage    on    the    doctor's 
work  in  the  Limehouse  speech. 


168  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

the  same  cry  for  "postponement" — always  the  first 
step  to  abandonment.  He  resisted  it  steadily;  pushed 
forward  his  Bill,  this  time  with  the  help  of  the 
strongest  closures;  and  in  December  the  House  of 
Lords,  perhaps  chastened  by  events,  allowed  the  In- 
surance Act  to  pass  into  law. 

So  ended  the  first  stage  of  that  great  scheme  of 
social  reform  with  which  he  designed  to  change  the 
face  of  England.  Insurance  against  sickness  and  kin- 
dred ills  was  combined  with  an  Act  for  insurance 
against  unemployment;  and  for  the  first  time  in  our 
history  labour  was  backed  by  security. 

Then,  in  1912,  amid  the  distractions  of  the  growing 
crisis  in  Ireland,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  proceeded  to 
approach  the  greatest  of  all  fastnesses  of  privilege — 
the  English  Land  Laws.  Here  was  a  more  formidable 
enterprise  than  any  he  had  yet  undertaken.  He  had 
to  carry  out  his  own  inquiries — for  it  had  been  proved 
by  experience  that  the  tenants  of  English  land  were 
in  too  precarious  a  position  to  venture  an  open  dis- 
closure of  their  wrongs  to  an  open  Commission.  He 
appointed  an  able  Land  Committee,  of  which  Mr.  (now 
Sir)  Arthur  Acland  became  the  Chairman.  That  Com- 
mittee carried  out  its  work  with  great  courage  and 
ability,  and  published  two  books  which  are  still  classical 
summaries  of  the  main  features  of  our  land  system, 
stated  with  fairness  and  thoroughness.1  In  a  series  of 
great  speeches,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  in  1912  and  1913 
announced  his  intention  of  making  legislative  proposals 
and  carrying  out  the  conclusions  of  this  Committee. 

But,  in  the  meantime,  across  this  great  endeavour, 

1The  Land.     The  Report  of  the  Land  Inquiry   Committee,  Vol.  I. 
Rural,  and  Vol.  II,  Urban.     (Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1913.) 


CIVIL  STRIFES  169 

there  had  arisen  a  hue  and  cry  which  had  given  new 
hope  to  the  friends  of  the  existing  order.  The  great 
controversy  of  the  Marconi  shares  seems  now  very  far 
away.  The  whole  case  fabricated  against  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  in  those  days  seem  very  ridiculous  now.  The 
perspective  has  changed  very  much  since  one  of  the 
great  English  political  parties  could  deliberately  set 
out  to  ruin  a  political  opponent  on  account  of  one  act 
of  carelessness.1 

But  it  does  not  do  to  throw  stones.  Party  strife  is 
an  ugly  business  at  best;  and  he  would  be  a  bold  man 
who  should  say  that,  in  similar  circumstances  the  Lib- 
eral Party  would  have  shown  a  spirit  very  much  better. 
In  this  matter  of  rushing  readily  to  false  accusations 
we  have  all  sinned  pretty  deeply  in  our  public  life. 
Suspicion  is  the  peculiar  vice  of  democracies;  and  he 
would  be  bold  who  should  say  that  the  real  scandal  of 
the  Marconi  affair — the  scandal  of  accusation  so 
poisoned  and  exaggerated  as  to  amount  to  calumny 
adopted  as  a  policy  and  a  cause — will  not  occur  again. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  suffered  very  much  through  this 
affair.  For  the  moment  it  achieved  its  object  of  hold- 
ing up  his  whole  activities  in  furthering  his  Land  Cam- 
paign. But  at  last  the  fever  of  the  assault  died  away, 
and  men  began  to  return  to  the  light  of  common  reason, 
and  to  see  the  thing  in  its  real  proportions.  Then 
there  succeeded  in  the  public  mind  a  fit  of  remorse 
which  worked  in  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  favour;  and  both 
in  London  and  in  Wales  he  was  banqueted  and  ac- 
claimed. For,  if  the  victims  survive  the  rigours  of  the 
"ordeal  by  torture,"  then  the  populace  applauds. 

1  It  is  a  strange  fact  that  nothing  worse  was  ever  distinctly  charged 
against  him  by  his  worst  foes,  although  much  was  insinuated. 


170  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

From  another  campaign  of  the  same  sort  at  an 
earlier  date  (1908)  Mr.  Lloyd  George  had  emerged 
victorious  in  the  Courts  with  damages  of  £1,000, 
which  enabled  him  to  adorn  his  native  village  of  Llany- 
stumdwy  with  a  very  handsome  Institute,  where  all 
his  fellow  villagers  can  now  read  the  newspapers  and 
enjoy  the  advantages  of  a  well-chosen  library.  So 
out  of  evil  sometimes  good  proceeds. 

In  1914  Mr.  Lloyd  George  resumed  the  prepara- 
tions for  his  Land  Bills.  It  was  his  intention  to  intro- 
duce them  into  the  House  of  Commons  during  the 
Session  of  this  year,  thus  placing  them  before  the 
country  witty  a  view  of  the  General  Election  already 
looming  ahead. 

But  across  all  these  designs  there  came,  in  June  and 
July  1914,  a  flood  of  reverberating  events — the  Ulster 
crisis,  the  officers'  revolt,  the  gun-running,  first  of 
Larne  and  then  of  Dublin.  Like  other  Ministers,  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  was  absorbed  in  a  situation  which 
threatened  instant  civil  war. 

Then  once  more,  across  the  threat  of  civil  war,  came 
the  even  greater  menace  of  an  even  vaster  peril — 
world-war. 

In  the  tremendous  crisis  that  followed  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  took  the  middle  course.  He  was  not  for  war 
against  Germany  at  all  costs.  On  Saturday,  August 
2nd,  he  was  inclined  to  vote  for  peace;  and  if,  neces- 
sary, to  resign  for  peace. 

On  that  day — as  he  has  told  the  world — the  biggest 
financiers  in  the  City,  including  the  Governor  of  the 
Bank  of  England,  came  to  him,  as  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  and  urged  that  peace  should  be  preserved, 


CIVIL  STRIFES  171 

and  that  we  should  stand  aside  from  the  strifes  of 
Europe.  On  Monday  it  was  known  that  Germany  had 
invaded  Belgium.  At  once  all  these  men  swung  over 
to  the  side  of  war. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  himself,  separately  and  inde- 
pendently, followed  the  same  course.  Eager  as  he 
had  been  in  the  past  for  peace,  he  had  no  hesitation 
from  the  moment  that  Germany  invaded  Belgium. 

We  had  pledged  our  word;  and  we  must  keep  it. 

On  Monday  he  was  for  war. 

He  had  definitely  chosen  his  part. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

A   WAR   MAN 

"O  Statesmen,  guard  us,  guard  the  eye,  the  soul 
Of  Europe,  keep  our  noble  England  whole." 

TENNYSON. 

FROM  the  moment  that  war  was  declared  (August 
4th,  1914),  Mr.  Lloyd  George  put  aside  all  his  doubts 
and  hesitations.  The  perplexities  of  the  previous  week 
passed  away  like  so  many  clouds  from  a  summer  sky. 
He  became  from  that  instant  a  war  man,  intent  on 
nothing  but  achieving  victory. 

"I  can  understand  a  man  opposing  a  war,"  he  used 
to  say,  "but  I  cannot  understand  his  waging  a  war  with 
half  a  heart."  In  regard  to  the  attitude  of  various 
friends  in  political  life,  he  would  always  express  a  cer- 
tain whimsical  tenderness  for  those  who  were  entirely 
opposed  to  the  war.  "Ah,"  he  would  say,  "I  was  in 
that  position  once  myself,  and  I  know  how  difficult  it 
is!"  Wholly  wrong  as  he  thought  them,  dangerous  as 
he  thought  their  activities  to  the  country,  he  could  not 
shake  off  a  certain  admiration  for  their  courage.  But 
the  men  for  whom  he  had  no  tolerance  were  those  who 
waged  the  war  with  a  backward  glance  over  their 
shoulder  all  the  time  at  the  lost  vision  of  peace.  That 
seemed  to  him  a  confusing  and  weakening  attitude. 
Peace  was  to  be  achieved,  of  course;  that  must  always 
be  the  very  aim  of  war;  but  once  war  began  peace  could 

172 


A  WAR  MAN  173 

only  be  retrieved  across  the  gulf  of  war  itself.  That 
being  the  situation,  he  saw  nothing  for  it  but  to  bend 
the  whole  energies  of  the  State  to  the  sole  purpose 
of  conducting  the  war  with  the  utmost  power. 

He  realised  at  once  that  Great  Britain  was  up  against 
the  most  terrible  danger  that  had  ever  faced  it  in  the 
whole  course  of  its  existence.  He  knew  Germany; 
he  had  a  thorough  understanding  of  German  efficiency. 
Especially  did  he  grasp  the  full  strength  and  power 
given  to  the  German  Government  by  the  patriotism  of 
the  German  people.  In  entering  upon  this  mighty  en- 
terprise, he  approached  the  matter  with  the  utmost 
gravity  and  seriousness.  I  never  saw  him  so  grave- 
minded  as  he  was  during  those  first  months  of  the  war. 
We  rallied  him  one  morning  at  breakfast  for  refusing 
to  laugh  at  some  jest.  "The  times  are  very  serious," 
he  said,  and  once  more  he  seemed  lost  in  his  own 
thoughts  again.  He  used  to  describe  the  moment  when 
the  Western  world  paused  from  peace  to  war  as  the 
most  solemn  and  awful  in  his  whole  life.  "We  sat 
waiting  for  Big  Ben  to  strike  the  hour  when  the  ulti- 
matum expired.  We  all  fell  quite  silent.  As  the  great 
blows  of  the  hammer  sounded  on  the  bell  we  seemed 
to  be  passing  into  another  world." 

From  the  very  first  he  took  Lord  Kitchener's  view 
of  the  seriousness  and  probable  length  of  the  war.  He 
was  not  a  war  "pessimist."  He  would  not  accept  that 
phrase.  "I  look  at  the  facts,"  he  would  say,  "I  merely 
refuse  to  live  in  dreamland."  When  people  used  to 
come  to  him  in  that  bouncingly  cheerful  mood  which 
patriots  tried  to  cultivate  in  those  days,  he  used  to 
look  at  them  gravely  and  say,  "Have  you  read  all  the 
bulletins?"  And  then  he  would  go  on:  "Have  you 


174.  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

read  the  bulletins  on  both  sides?"  Or  to  another  he 
would  say,  "Have  you  looked  at  the  maps?"  For  he 
always  saw  the  war  as  a  whole:  he  grasped  it  in  the 
East  as  well  as  in  the  West.  It  was  not  that  he  was 
particularly  disturbed  by  untoward  incidents ;  he  rarely 
discussed  any  such  incident.  It  was  the  proportions 
of  the  vast  forces  at  issue  which  filled  his  mind  and 
imagination. 

There  were  several  consoling  theories  popular  dur- 
ing the  first  year  of  the  war  for  which  he  had  little 
taste.  There  was  the  idea,  preached  in  many  powerful 
quarters,  that  German  man-power  would  soon  be  ex- 
hausted. Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  an  open  sceptic  on 
that  point.  It  was  not  merely  that  the  Germanic 
Powers  had  far  more  men  than  most  English  people 
realised  at  that  time;  it  was  also  his  fixed  imaginative 
feeling  that  the  resisting  power  of  a  country  does  not 
ultimately  depend  on  numbers.  It  was  the  spirit  of 
Germany  that  he  feared — ruthless  to  others,  merciless 
to  itself.  In  a  public  speech  he  expressed  that  once 
as  the  "potato-bread"  spirit. 

Then  there  was  the  theory  that  Germany  would  soon 
be  starved  into  submission.  There  again  his  imagina- 
tion came  to  his  help.  "How  do  you  know?"  he  would 
say.  "How  can  you  tell  at  what  point  a  nation  will 
cry  for  mercy?  That  does  not  depend  upon  the  amount 
of  food;  it  depends  upon  the  spirit  of  the  nation.  His- 
tory shows  that  there  is  little  limit  to  what  some  nations 
will  endure  before  they  surrender." 

The  practical  upshot  of  all  this  was  that  he  could  see 
no  alternative  to  a  clear  and  clean  military  victory. 
The  only  reason,  in  fact,  why  he  combated  such  theories 


A  WAR  MAN  175 

as  "attrition"  and  "hunger-surrender"  was  that  he  re- 
garded them  as  excuses  unconsciously  put  forward  to 
avoid  the  strain  and  stress  necessary  for  that  achieve- 
ment. He  saw  men  at  that  period  cultivating  optimism 
as  a  means  of  concealing  from  themselves  the  stark 
realities.  He  saw  others  preferring  short  views  to 
long  preparations.  He  perceived  that  too  many  were 
seeking  for  any  or  every  other  means  of  a  softer  out- 
let; and  yet,  to  his  mind,  the  sole  chance  of  obtaining  a 
satisfactory  close  to  the  war  lay  along  the  iron  road 
of  victory.  It  was  in  that  way  that  he  came  to  regard 
the  people  he  met  as  too  sanguine;  for  that  reason 
he  set  himself  to  preach  a  more  sombre  view. 

So  much  did  this  view  afterwards  prevail  that  it  is 
difficult  to  recall  now  those  amazingly  cheerful  fore- 
casts so  popular  during  the  first  six  months  of  the  war. 
Public  opinion  soon  recovered  from  the  first  shock 
of  the  retreat  from  Mons.  There  were  even  a  con- 
siderable body  of  people  who  persuaded  themselves  to 
regard  that  valorous  series  of  rear-guard  actions  as  a 
crowning  victory.  When,  on  September  9th,  1914,  the 
Germans  stopped  their  advance  and  began  to  retire  to 
the  line  of  the  Marne,  there  were  some  who  talked  as 
if  the  war  were  already  ended. 

This  was  not  by  any  means  entirely  the  fault  of  the 
public,  for  a  strict  censorship  had  concealed  from  us 
in  Great  Britain  that  gigantic  defeat  of  the  Russians 
at  the  end  of  August  known  now  as  the  battle  of  Tan- 
nenberg.  There  the  Russian  General  Samsonoff  had 
been  drawn  on  to  the  lakes  of  East  Prussia  by  Hin- 
denburg,  and  a  second  Cannae  had  been  achieved.  A 
vast  number  of  Russians  had  been  killed  and  captured; 


176  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

90,000  had  been  taken  prisoners,  and  no  less  than  516 
guns  captured.1 

All  these  things  were  known  to  Mr.  Lloyd  George ; 
and  he  did  not  possess  the  faculty,  somewhat  common 
in  high  places,  of  persuading  himself  that  an  incon- 
venient fact  must  necessarily  be  untrue.  Nor  was  he 
so  bemused  by  the  censorship  as  to  believe  that  you 
could  make  an  unpleasant  fact  untrue  simply  by  keep- 
ing it  secret.  He  knew  by  the  beginning  of  September 
that  the  theory  of  the  Russian  "steam-roller"  must 
be  set  aside.  He  had  realised  already  that  the  main 
effort  would  now  lie  with  England.  That  was  what 
gave  so  much  sobriety  to  his  outlook. 

As  the  last  months  of  1914  passed  by,  the  situation 
as  a  whole  certainly  did  not  improve.  The  Russian 
invasion  of  Eastern  Prussia  was  definitely  stayed. 
There  were  indeed  certain  compensations.  In  Septem- 
ber the  Russians  seized  Eastern  Galicia  and  the  Buko- 
vina.  In  those  months  the  Serbians,  with  heroic  valour, 
three  times  drove  back  the  invading  Austrians  from 
their  little  country.  But  it  became  obvious  that  the 
Russians,  however  daring  in  combat,  lacked  the  gen- 
eralship required  for  reaping  the  fruits  of  their  suc- 
cesses. At  the  beginning  of  October  Germany  came 
to  the  help  of  Austria,  and  there  was  a  great  rally  of 
the  Austro-German  forces.  The  Russians  were  driven 
ou?  of  Western  Galicia,  and  in  October  a  large  part 
of  Western  Poland  was  seized  by  the  Germans.  In 
November  there  was  another  spasmodic  recovery  of 
the  Russians;  but  again  in  later  November  they  were 
driven  back  to  within  forty  miles  of  Warsaw,  and  the 

1  See  the  full   account  in  LudendorfPs  War  Memories   (vol.  i.  pp. 
41-72). 


A  WAR  MAN  177 

opening  of  1915  saw  Russia  practically  on  the  de- 
fensive. 

The  meaning  of  all  these  events  to  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  was,  that  if  we  were  to  achieve  victory  we  must 
prepare  for  a  very  great  and  prolonged  effort;  and 
he  determined  to  set  himself  to  the  task  of  tuning  the 
country  up  to  the  pitch  of  the  highest  endeavour. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  at  this  time  he  was  still 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and  therefore  not  directly 
concerned  with  war  matters.  All  his  arguments  and 
interventions  both  in  war  policy  and  foreign  policy  were 
liable  to  be  regarded,  according  to  the  prevailing  tra- 
ditions of  our  Cabinet  rule,  as  trespasses  from  the 
straight  and  narrow  path  of  direct  responsibility. 

Still,  he  felt  it  his  duty,  as  a  citizen  and  a  Minister, 
to  run  all  the  risks  of  personal  misunderstanding  that 
might  arise  from  honest  and  vigorous  expressions  of 
his  own  mind.  For,  rightly  or  wrongly,  he  took  a 
very  serious  view  of  the  situation  at  the  end  of  1914. 
He  felt  his  responsibility  all  the  heavier  for  the  knowl- 
edge which  he  possessed.  The  British  public  were  look- 
ing only  at  the  splendid  achievements  of  our  armies  in 
the  West.  What  they  did  not  see  was  the  heavy  thun- 
dercloud in  the  East — the  great  German  armies  gather- 
ing themselves  for  a  mighty,  tigerish  spring  on  to 
some  of  the  fairest  provinces  of  our  great  Eastern 
Ally. 

Here  was  the  loss  side  to  this  account — the  achieve- 
ments in  the  East  of  those  German  divisions  which 
had  been  withdrawn  from  the  advance  on  Paris,  and 
had  left  their  diminished  armies  to  fall  back  on  the 
Marne. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  refused  to  regard  those  defeats 


178  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

of  the  Russian  armies  as  inevitable.  He  would  never 
consent  to  be  a  fatalist.  He  represented  the  vigorous 
energy  of  the  Western  man — eager  and  insistent  to 
strive  against  the  shocks  of  fortune. 

Frankly  he  was  not  content  with  the  measures  taken 
to  grip  the  situation.  He  did  not  feel  that  any  military 
plans  were  being  considered  adequate  to  face  the 
perils  that  threatened  us.  He  was  unhappy  and  dis- 
satisfied with  the  plans  he  knew  of;  he  felt  little  con- 
fidence that  others  would  be  devised  more  fit  to  avert 
these  perils. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  he  first  suggested  day-to-day 
sittings  of  the  War  Committee  for  the  conduct  of  the 
war.  It  was  the  first  appearance  of  that  proposal  for 
a  small  War  Cabinet  which  afterwards  developed  so 
stormily  from  the  stress  and  travail  of  the  war.  Not 
before  three  years  of  trying  the  old  bottles  was  the 
new  wine  to  find  a  vessel  fit  for  its  feverish  ferment. 

During  the  Christmas  holidays  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
carefully  surveyed  the  situation.  With  the  opening 
of  1915  this  is  how  he  saw  it. 

Russia  was  in  danger  of  a  blow  at  the  heart.  In 
the  West  the  military  situation  had  reached  a  dead- 
lock * ;  and  it  was  not  yet  physically  possible  that  the 
armies  at  this  time  raised  by  us  should  drive  back  the 
German  invader  in  any  time  that  then  seemed  reason- 
able from  the  North  of  France  and  Belgium.  On  those 
lines  the  war  seemed  certain  to  last  a  very  long  time, 
though  not  even  he  at  that  time  cast  his  eyes  beyond 
the  historic  three  years  fixed  by  Lord  Kitchener.  He 

*See  the  remarkable  survey  of  the  military  situation  in  January 
1915,  contained  on  page  19  of  the  Dardanelles  Commission's  First 
Report  (Cd.  8490).  That  survey  confirms  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  views 
at  that  time. 


A  WAR  MAN  179 

wished,   at  all  possible  costs,  to  avoid  a   long  war. 

Looking  across  Europe,  he  asked  himself — Was 
there  not  some  alternative  way?  Some  road  to  a 
quicker  ending  of  this  world  agony? 

He  found  it  in  the  Near  East,  at  that  point  where 
the  Teuton  power  touched  the  Danube,  and  was  still 
at  that  time  held  back  by  the  heroic  resistance  of  the 
Serbians. 

The  plan  that  framed  itself  in  his  mind  was  to  com- 
bine the  Balkan  States — to  revive  the  Federation — to 
send  a  great  British  army  to  their  help,  and  attack 
with  these  combined  forces — perhaps  amounting  to 
1,000,000  men — the  Eastern  flank  of  the  Central 
Powers. 

This  great  scheme  must  not  be  confused  with  the 
subsequent  expeditions  to  Gallipoli  and  Salonika.  It 
was  something  far  larger  in  conception,  and  far  more 
splendid  in  grasp  and  sweep  of  action. 

It  was  a  proposal  for  employing  the  new  British 
armies,  before  they  were  wearied  by  being  set  to  the 
tasks  that  break  men,  for  fortifying  our  Allies,  and  for 
snatching  success  before  the  watching  neutrals  of  the 
Near  East — Bulgaria,  Greece,  and  Rumania — were  di- 
vided and  distracted  by  doubt  and  failure. 

It  was  also  an  essential  part  of  his  larger  hope  that 
such  an  effort  would  relieve  the  pressure  on  Russia 
and  finally  perhaps  draw  off  the  bulk  of  the  German 
armies  from  the  West  to  the  help  of  Austria. 

In  his  view  the  plan  entailed  far  less  risk  than  shaped 
itself  in  the  minds  of  the  timid.  A  visit  to  the  Western 
front  had  impressed  him  with  the  feeling  that  this  was 
not  then  the  easiest  place  for  a  successful  assault  on 
the  Central  Powers.  Here  you  would  meet  them  just 


180  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

at  the  point  .where  they  had  the  greatest  mastery  over 
their  defensive.  The  West,  it  seemed  to  him,  was  the 
proper  place  for  a  persistent,  concentrated,  and  even 
vigilant  defensive.  But  at  that  time  the  spot  for  a 
more  prosperous  offensive  had,  in  the  view  strongly 
impressed  upon  him  by  observation,  to  be  sought  else- 
where. 

His  policy  was  to  make  the  Western  line  impreg- 
nable; but,  with  the  forces  that  could  be  spared  beyond 
that  necessary  effort,  to  prepare  and  execute  a  great 
strategical  diversion  along  the  line  of  the  Danube, 
striking  into  territory  inhabited  by  men  sympathetic 
to  the  Western  Allies,  and  supporting  our  own  weaker 
Allies  among  the  Balkan  States.  In  this  way  he  hoped 
to  save  Serbia,  to  prevent  the  German  "break-through" 
to  the  East,  and  in  the  end  to  divert  the  great  Ger- 
man hosts  from  their  assaults  on  Great  Britain  and 
Russia. 

Such  was  the  "Near  Eastern  idea"  in  its  large  scope 
and  purpose.  Those  who  held  it  were  necessarily  op- 
posed to  the  earlier  frontal  assaults  in  the  West, 
chivalrously  and  splendidly  undertaken  before  we  had 
an  unquestionable  superiority  in  numbers  and  guns. 
Like  Botha  in  South  Africa  at  the  later  stage  of  the 
Boer  War — like  every  great  general  when  he  is  out- 
numbered and  out-gunned — they  were  seeking  a  "way 
round."  It  was  a  very  big  "way  round" — by  Durazzo 
or  Salonika — but  the  point  is  that  it  seemed  at  the 
time  the  only  possible  way  round. 

We  must  remember  that  the  submarine  menace  had 
not  yet  developed,  that  Bulgaria  had  not  yet  declared 
war,  that  we  were  still  as  much  masters  of  the  Medi- 
terranean as  ever  in  our  long  history.  Austria  had  not 


A  WAR  MAN  181 

yet  stiffened  her  army  with  German  troops,  and  Russia 
was  still  uninvaded.  All  these  were  governing  facts 
in  this  great  scheme. 

It  was  characteristic  of  his  buoyant  faith  that  he 
firmly  believed  that  the  appearance  of  a  great  British 
army  in  the  Balkans  would  surely  bring  in  both  the 
Rumanians  and  the  Greeks  to  our  aid.  In  his  view 
those  nations  were  at  the  moment  hypnotised  by  the 
fate  of  Belgium. 

They  genuinely  feared  the  military  power  and  terror 
of  Germany.  What  they  wanted  was  a  convincing 
proof  of  our  land  strength.  They  knew  us  as  a  naval 
power;  but  that  was  not  enough  for  this  war.  Here 
was  this  new  thing — our  growing  military  potency. 
Very  well,  let  us  display  this  side  of  our  strength  to 
the  world.  Let  us  land  our  new  armies  in  the  Near 
East. 

Such  was  the  large  design,  boldly  schemed  and  boldly 
started,  which  he  set  before  his  political  and  military 
colleagues  in  the  early  months  of  1915.  He  firmly  be- 
lieved that  it  would  inspire  our  arms  with  a  new  force 
and  vigour.  It  would  give  our  young  soldiers  a  new 
hope.  It  would  confuse  and  embarrass  the  German 
defence.  It  would  present  them  for  the  first  time  in 
this  campaign  with  that  dash  of  the  sudden,  secret, 
and  unexpected  which  was  so  often  their  own  special 
way.  It  would  knock  away  the  German  props  by 
threatening  her  Allies ;  and  it  would  build  up  new  props 
for  us  by  heartening  ours.  Such  were  the  broad  and 
daring  ideas  which  underlay  his  thoughts. 

We  know  that  this  great  scheme  did  not  prevail  at 
the  time,  although  pale  ghosts  of  it  lingered  on  and 


182  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

haunted  the  stricken  fields  of  war.  The  flesh  and 
substance  of  the  plan  evaporated  in  the  atmosphere 
of  doubt.  Between  all  the  Allies  and  the  Chancelleries 
of  the  Allies,  in  the  chilling  alleys  and  by-ways 
of  debate  and  diplomacy,  this  great  enterprise  lost  "the 
name  of  action."  It  was  "sicklied  o'er  with  the  pale 
cast  of  thought."  Tradition,  convention,  conven- 
ience— all  combined  to  strangle  it. 

We  cannot  say  now  how  it  would  have  prospered. 
The  fortunes  of  war  are  always,  after  all,  on  the 
knees  of  the  gods.  No  mortal  can  command  suc- 
cess; we  can  only  deserve  it. 

Such  opportunities  do  not  occur  twice.  The  Near 
Eastern  vision  faded.  The  country  set  itself  grimly 
to  solve  by  direct  methods  the  problem  of  the  West. 
How  heroically,  how  tenaciously  the  British  race  would 
set  its  teeth  into  that  endeavour  perhaps  no  one  could 
then  quite  foresee;  but,  casting  our  minds  back  over 
these  bloodstained  years,  the  question  cannot  but  again 
recur — Might  there  not  have  been  a  shorter  road? 


CHAPTER  XV 

EAST  OR  WEST? 

"For  East  is  East,  and  West  is  West, 
And  never  the  twain  shall  meet." 

RUDYARD  KIPLING. 

IT  is  characteristic  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George  that,  when 
his  mind  once  seizes  hold  of  an  idea,  he  is  wholly  pos- 
sessed with  it  until  either  he  can  bring  it  to  accom- 
plishment or  he  is  fully  convinced  of  its  impracticability. 
It  was  so  with  regard  to  this  great  scheme  of  out- 
flanking the  Central  Powers  by  an  attack  from  the 
Near  East.  The  more  he  reflected  upon  it  the  more 
there  seemed  to  lie  in  this  plan  one  great  chance  of 
bringing  a  speedy  decision  to  the  war.  But,  for  better 
or  for  worse,  the  reinforcements  were  now  being  di- 
rected to  the  Western  Front;  and  the  policy  of  the 
Western  Allies  was  more  and  more  concentrated  on 
that  sphere  of  offence  and  defence — France,  from 
absorption  in  her  immediate  danger,  and  Great  Bri- 
tain for  her  instinctive  military  preference  for  cam- 
paigning nearer  to  her  sacred  seas. 

Out-voted  in  that  larger  proposal,  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
now  fell  back  on  a  smaller  design.  The  cautious  di- 
plomacy of  the  Allies  had  shrunk  from  the  large,  bold 
strokes  necessary  for  combining  the  Balkan  States  as 
an  eastern  wing  of  our  offensive  against  the  Central 
Powers;  their  military  chiefs  had  hesitated  to  supply 

183 


184  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

the  means.  Never  at  that  stage  did  the  Governments 
of  the  Allies  fully  realise  the  full  proportionate  value 
of  the  Balkan  States  in  the  vast  scheme  of  the  great 
European  struggle. 

But  it  was  soon  clear  that,  if  the  Western  Powers 
were  inclined  to  leave  the  Balkan  States  to  themselves, 
the  Central  Powers  had  no  such  intention.  Quite 
early  in  the  war  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  Mr.  Winston 
Churchill  scented  the  danger  of  German  intrigue  in  the 
Balkans,  and  the  vast  lure  of  that  easy  "corridor"  to 
the  East  offered  by  the  trans-Balkan  railway  system. 
In  September  1914  they  induced  the  Foreign  Office 
to  send  the  Buxton  brothers  to  Sofia;  and  the  proposals 
which  those  delegates  brought  back  in  January  1915 
played  an  important  part  in  the  negotiations  of  Feb- 
ruary.1 

Some  time  before  the  end  of  January  1915,  indeed, 
the  British  Government  got  to  know  that  Germany  was 
already  preparing  a  large  army  for  the  invasion  of 
Serbia.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  instantly  realised  the 
gravity  and  urgency  of  this  peril.  It  was  largely  due 
to  his  initiative  that  a  note  was  sent  to  Greece  and 
Rumania,  urging  those  states  to  come  to  the  assistance 
of  Serbia. 

No  note  was  sent  to  Bulgaria.  It  was  already  dimly 
realised  that  this  State  was  being  drawn  into  the  far- 
flung  net  of  the  Central  Powers.  The  "Prussia  of  the 
Balkans"  presented  too  rich  a  field  to  be  left  unhar- 
vested  by  the  needy  gleaners  of  Germany.  The 

1  On  Sunday,  August  26th,  1917,  at  Athens,  M.  Venizelos  revealed 
the  details  of  an  earlier  entente  between  Greece  and  the  Allies, 
planned  by  him  before  the  battle  of  the  Marne.  It  was  frustrated 
by  King  Constantine.  The  Greek  White  Paper  since  published  fully 
confirms  this. 


EAST  OR  WEST?  185 

anxious  and  hard-pressed  diplomats  of  Berlin,  seeking 
eagerly  for  friends  in  a  world  growing  more  and  more 
hostile,  were  already  tapping  at  the  doors  of  Sofia, 
offering  golden  and  honeyed  gifts  to  a  State  which  had 
fed  too  long  on  the  east  wind. 

Rumours  of  these  approaches  grew  so  strong  and 
convincing  that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  moved  by  them 
to  take  fresh  action  along  his  old  lines.  It  was  now 
no  longer  a  question  of  a  great  offensive  with  a  gigantic 
army  on  the  Near  Eastern  flank  of  the  enemy.  Fate 
does  not  repeat  her  opportunities;  and  the  chances  of 
that  great  diversion  were  already  slipping  away.  It 
was  now  rather  a  question  whether  we  should  be  in 
time  even  to  save  our  smaller  friends  in  the  Near  East 
— whether  we  should  be  able  to  prevent  this  threatened 
gigantic  "sortie"  of  the  Central  Powers  from  the  siege 
of  the  Entente  Allies.  Already,  in  January,  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  saw,  in  that  flashing  way  of  his,  all  the 
tragic  possibilities  that  might  flow  from  a  German 
"break-through"  in  the  Balkans.  Already  he  foresaw 
the  fearful  and  disastrous  fate  of  a  conquered  Serbia. 

With  this  tragedy  ever  clearly  in  his  mind's  eye,  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  left  no  stone  unturned  to  avert  it.  In 
the  middle  of  January  he  succeeded  in  persuading  his 
colleagues  to  offer  a  whole  army  corps  to  Greece  on 
condition  that  she  would  agree  to  join  us  in  the  war. 
Lord  Kitchener  agreed  to  spare  the  troops,  and  ap- 
proved the  wording  of  the  offer.  But  it  was  necessary 
to  obtain  the  approval  of  the  Allies. 

France  was  not  for  the  moment  happy  at  the  idea  of 
sending  troops  to  the  Near  East.  There  came  from 
across  the  Channel  a  breath  of  acute  anxiety,  the 
anxiety  of  an  invaded  and  ravaged  country. 


186  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

The  result  was  that  the  official  note  was  held  back 
and  somewhat  modified.  The  military  offer  of  help 
to  Greece  and  Serbia  began  to  become  vaguer.  The 
army  corps  began  to  become  a  little  ghostly.  We  can 
see  the  great  plan  still  further  dwindling  into  shadows. 

Then,  on  January  26th,  a  new  development  occurred. 
M.  Venizelos  sent  to  London  the  Greek  reply  to  the 
first  note  of  the  Allies,  asking  for  help  on  behalf  of 
Serbia.  The  reply  was  that,  on  certain  conditions, 
Greece  agreed  to  join  in  the  war  on  the  side  of  the 
Allies.  If  those  conditions  were  fulfilled,  then  Greece 
— so  the  answer  ran — was  willing  to  give  its  assistance 
to  Serbia,  and  to  place  the  whole  of  its  resources  at  the 
service  of  a  "just  and  liberal  cause." 

But  the  chief  of  the  conditions  was  that  Bulgaria 
should  come  in  as  well  on  the  Allied  side.  If  not,  then 
Rumania  must  come  in  and  Bulgaria  remain  neutral.1 

So  far,  so  good.  It  now  remained  to  persuade 
France. 

On  February  5th  there  was  to  be  held  in  Paris  one 
of  those  Allied  Conferences  on  policy  and  strategy 
which  have  been  held  periodically  throughout  the  war. 

These  Conferences  were,  indeed,  orginally  Mr. 
Lloyd  George's  own  special  and  favourite  plan  for 
bringing  the  Allies  into  a  better  sympathy  of  mind  and 

1  These  were  the  main   points.    The   actual   conditions   were   very 
complex: 

(a)  That    England    should    endeavour    to    bring    about    the 
collaboration    of    Bulgaria   with    Greece,    in   which   case   Greece 
would  withdraw  her  opposition  to  Serbia  ceding  part  of  Mace- 
donia to  Bulgaria. 

(b)  If  this  condition  could   not  be  obtained,  then   the  Powers 
should   obtain   the  co-operation   of  Rumania,    and    the   neutrality 
of  Bulgaria. 

(c)  If    not,    then    Greece   must   be    assisted    by    a    substantial 
British  contingent,  or  a  joint  British  and  French  contingent 


EAST  OR  WEST?  187 

purpose;  and  he  had  always  promoted  them  with  zeal 
and  enthusiasm,  which  grew  with  his  friendship  for 
M.  Albert  Thomas.  On  this  occasion — February  5th, 
1915 — he  had  been  selected  to  go  over  himself  to 
Paris  as  the  British  delegate. 

He  proposed  that  M.  Venizelos  should  come  from 
Greece  and  meet  him  in  Paris.  But  the  domestic  crisis 
in  Greece  was  now  passing  into  a  stage  far  too  acute 
for  M.  Venizelos  to  leave  Athens.  That  eminent  man 
was  making  his  last  effort  to  work  with  King  Con- 
stantine. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  went  to  Paris  and  won  his  case. 
That  gallant  nation,  anxious  to  help  the  weak,  and 
threatened  even  in  the  midst  of  her  own  agony,  con- 
sented to  join  in  the  expedition.  The  French  Cabinet 
were  willing  to  send  a  French  division  to  work  with 
the  British  division  to  which  Lord  Kitchener  had 
already  agreed. 

Returning  to  London,  he  informed  the  British  mili- 
tary authorities,  who  in  their  turn  offered  to  "go  one 
better,"  and  to  spare  two  British  divisions. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  now  all  eager  for  instant 
action. 

He  urged  that  the  new  Joint  Note,  offering  military 
aid,  should  be  sent  at  once.  He  brushed  aside  for  the 
moment  the  idea  of  arriving  at  a  general  Balkan  agree- 
ment on  the  lines  of  the  proposals  brought  back  by 
the  Buxtons  from  Sofia.  The  Bulgarian  suggestion  that 
Serbia  should  make  a  considerable  surrender  of  terri- 
tory seemed  to  him  impossible  for  Serbia  after  their 
recent  struggles  and  sufferings.  He  had  already  a  very 
deep  perception  that  Bulgaria  was  hardening  against 
the  Entente.  He  saw  definite  evidence  of  it  in  Ger- 


188  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

many's  known  willingness  to  lend  her  money.  It  did 
not  seem  to  him  conceivable  that  Germany  should  be 
advancing  money  to  Bulgaria  without  some  assurance 
as  to  Bulgaria's  action  in  certain  contingencies.  The 
Germans  were  not  such  fools. 

Besides,  Rumania  seemed  to  him  now  less  friendly. 
All  the  more  need,  then,  for  prompt  and  energetic 
action  to  clinch  the  friendliness  of  our  most  probable 
ally,  Greece. 

He  felt  very  acutely  at  this  moment  the  evil  and 
harm  of  a  dilatory  policy.  It  was  on  his  mind  all  the 
time  that,  if  they  failed  to  act  in  time  to  save  Serbia, 
their  responsibility  would  be  a  terrible  one.  Even 
days  seemed  to  him  to  count  in  the  great  issues  that 
lay  before  them. 

It  was  a  great  design,  greatly  urged.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  say  now  whether  it  would  have  fulfilled  the 
hopes  of  its  chief  sponsor.  He  had  won  over  to  his 
side  all  the  chief  forces  in  the  West.  The  expedition 
that  was  about  to  start  would  have  probably  forestalled 
and  averted  that  ill-starred  enterprise  of  the  Darda- 
nelles-Gallipoli  attack  which  opened  on  February  25th. 

But  just  on  the  eve  of  fruition  other  forces  inter- 
vened. While  Mr.  Lloyd  George  had  been  working 
in  the  West  of  Europe,  the  Central  Powers  had  been 
busy  in  the  Near  East.  On  January  26th  had  come 
the  conditional  Greek  offer  to  intervene  in  the  war. 
On  February  6th  came  their  definite  refusal. 

The  crash  came  suddenly.  Russia  had  just  promised 
10,000  men  towards  the  new  Balkan  enterprise.  Then, 
at  that  moment  of  apparent  success,  M.  Venizelos  sud- 
denly informed  the  British  Minister  at  Athens  that 
Greece  had  decided  not  to  join  the  Allies  in  the  war. 


EAST  OR  WEST?  189 

The  refusal  was  abruptly  worded,  and  the  grounds 
given  were  very  definite.  They  were  that  Greece  found 
herself  unable  to  obtain  the  conditions  laid  down  in 
the  reply  of  January  26th.  One  of  those  conditions 
was  that  Bulgaria  should  either  join  Greece  in  declar- 
ing war,  or  should  promise  neutrality.  She  had  re- 
fused to  do  either.  Another  condition  had  been  that 
Rumania  should  join.  But  Rumania,  still  hesitating 
between  the  two  belligerent  groups,  would  give  no  de- 
cided answer.  It  was  at  that  moment  the  fear  of 
Greece  that,  if  she  sent  an  army  northwards  to  -the  help 
of  Serbia,  then  Bulgaria  would  move  to  the  south, 
seize  Kavalla,  and  would  strike  westwards  into  Mace- 
donia to  drive  a  wedge  between  Greece  and  Serbia. 
In  such  a  case  it  seemed  more  than  possible  that  Greece 
would  be  crushed. 

It  is  fair  also  "to  say  that  Bulgaria's  refusal  of  a 
promise  of  neutrality  was  for  Greece  an  ominous  and 
formidable  fact.  It  is  inevitable  that  Greece  should 
have  been  looking  -rather  at  her  resentful  neighbour 
than  at  those  larger  aims  of  European  interest  -which 
filled  the  policies  of  the  Western  Powers;  it  was  nat- 
ural and  human  that  their  first  and  possessing  fear 
should  be  lest  the  work  of  the  war  of  1913  should  be 
undone.  For  in  that  terrible  war  the  price  of  victory 
had  been  appallingly  high  for  so  small  a  nation.  No 
less  than  30,000  Greek  soldiers  had  been  killed  within 
a  few  days  in  that  tremendous  onslaught  which  had 
driven  back  the  treacherous  Bulgarian  a-ttack.  Greece, 
with  her  small  supply  of  men,  could  not  lightly  contem- 
plate the  repetition  of  such  a  sacrifice,  or  the  loss  of 
the  gains  which  had  been  so  fearfully  purchased. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  did  not  give  up  hope.    He  knew 


190  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

enough  to  foresee,  for  instance,  that  the  new  attack  of 
Bulgaria  was  bound  to  come,  and  that  the  most  pru- 
dent course  was  to  forestall  it.  It  was  at  this  moment 
that  the  suggestion  came  from  Greek  sources,1  that 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  should  himself  go  out  to  the  Bal- 
kans as  a  Commissioner  to  bring  together  the  Balkan 
States.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  himself  consented;  and  Mr. 
Asquith  approved.  But  it  was  soon  found  that  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  was  wanted  too  urgently  at  the  centre 
to  be  spared  for  distant  missions. 

The  Greek  Government  held  to  its  refusal.  The 
Greek  General  Staff  had  pronounced  strongly  against 
Greek  military  intervention  as  long  as  Bulgaria  re- 
mained even  neutral;  and  M.  Venizelos  had  now  grave 
cause  to  believe  that  Bulgaria  was  pledged  to  the 
Central  Powers.  He  hesitated  to  bind  himself  with 
the  Army  and  the  Crown  against  him. 

As  for  the  Greek  King  Constantine,  he  was  already 
drifting  along  that  fatal  course  which  led  ultimately  to 
his  exile.  It  was  reported  to  the  British  Government 
that  he  sa.w  the  German  military  Attache  every  day, 
while  he  refused  to  see  the  British  Attache  at  all. 

Thus  cut  off  for  the  moment  from  effective  inter- 
vention on  the  Danube,  the  British  Government  drifted 
towards  that  tremendous  Dardanelles  enterprise 2 
which  took  the  place  of  the  Serbian  proposal.  The  first 
bombardment  of  the  Dardanelles  forts  (February  25th 
to  26th)  seemed  to  go  prosperously;  and  at  the  open- 
ing of  March  Russia  began  to  do  well.  Once  more 
there  was  a  new  twist  in  the  designs  of  the  Greek 
Crown  Government;  and  on  March  6th  the  Crown 

1This  suggestion  actually  came  from  Sir  John  Stavridi,  the  Greek 
Consul-General. 

2  See  the  Dardanelles  Report  passim,  1917,  Cd.  8490. 


EAST  OR  WEST?  191 

Council  assembled  at  Athens  offered  the  whole  Greek 
fleet  and  one  Greek  division  for  co-operation  in  the 
attack  on  the  Dardanelles. 

But  already  the  curt  refusal  of  the  previous  overtures 
had  driven  the  Allies  to  other  designs;  and  the  pro- 
Bulgarian  influences  in  Russia  were  now  very  strong. 
Bulgaria  was  now  astutely  offering  to  lend  her  armies 
for  an  attack  on  Constantinople  from  the  north-west 
while  the  fleets  were  hammering  at  the  Straits.  The 
old  Russian  Court  Government,  always  fearful  of 
Greek  designs  on  Constantinople,  leaned  towards  Bul- 
garia, and,  now  that  a  choice  seemed  possible,  preferred 
Bulgarian  help  to  Greek. 

As  far  as  we  can  peer  through  the  mists  of  Balkan 
intrigue,  the  success  of  the  earlier  bombardments  of 
the  Dardanelles  outer  forts  swung  Bulgaria  for  the 
time  away  from  her  Teutonic  'bearings.  She  was  for 
the  moment  inclined  to  join  the  Entente,  if  only  from 
fear  of  the  consequences.1  Whether  she  had  signed 
an  agreement  with  Germany  or  not,  does  not  seem  to 
have  troubled  the  statesmen  at  Sofia,  and  certainly  not 
the  King.2  The  sanctity  of  a  treaty  would  probably 
not  ha-ve  affected  the  policy  of  a  country  already 
strongly  bitten  with  the  virus  of  Prussia's  world-poli- 
tics. Bulgaria  was,  in  fact,  during  that  time  making 
offers  to  both  sides;  she  was,  in  vulgar  language,  wait- 
ing to  see  uhow  the  cat  jumped."  For  the  moment, 

1  See  Dardanelles  Commission  First  Report,  p.  39.  "It  can  scarce- 
ly be  doubted  that,  had  it  not  been  for  the  Dardanelles  Expedition, 
Bulgaria  would  have  joined  the  Central  Powers  at  a  far  earlier 
date  than  was  actually  the  case.  Mr.  Asquith  was  strongly  of 
this  opinion  in  the  extracts  quoted  from  his  evidence.  'Yes,  I  am 
certain  of  it,'  he  said  to  the  Chairman.'"  (Page  40.) 

*The  Greek  White  Book  has  revealed  that  an  understanding 
existed  between  Bulgaria,  the  Central  Powers,  and  Turkey  ever 
since  August,  1914. 


192  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

therefore,  she  became  "pro-Entente."  But  immediately 
that  the  failure  of  the  Dardanelles  attack  became  ap- 
parent she  swung  back  into  the  Teutonic  orbit.  The 
diplomatic  situation  was,  as  Lord  Grey  fairly  claimed,1 
"overshadowed  by  the  military." 

Deeply  disappointed  with  Greece,  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
now  held  aloof  from  her  overtures,  and  was  inclined, 
for  the  moment,  to  hope  something  even  from  the  Bul- 
garian alternative.  During  the  spring  and  summer  of 
1915  the  Russian  campaign  diverted  the  German  re- 
sources for  a  while  from  the  meditated  attack  on  Ser- 
bia. The  position  along  the  Danube  became  less 
threatening.  It  became  the  German  design  to  throw 
back  Russia  from  Galicia  and  Poland  before  she  en- 
tered upon  her  great  Near  Eastern  enterprise.  The 
result  was  a  temporary  lull  for  Serbia. 

The  British  Government  hoped  to  avail  herself  of 
this  lull  to  bring  together  the  Balkan  States.  Bulgaria 
assumed  a  willingness  to  join  the  Allies  on  the  condition 
of  certain  large  concessions  of  territory  from  Greece 
and  Serbia.  M.  Venizelos  even  went  so  far  as  to  im- 
peril his  position  in  Greece  by  suggesting  consent.  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  was  now  more  hopeful  of  bringing  to- 
gether the  old  Balkan  Federation  on  these  lines.  His 
general  idea  was  that  the  Allies  should  occupy  the 
zone  of  Macedonia  as  disputed  between  Serbia  and  Bul- 
garia, on  condition  that  if  they  could  secure  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina  forSerbia  in  the  final  settlementthey  should 
then  hand  the  disputed  territory  over  to  Bulgaria. 

But  the  sacrifices  of  the  Serbian  people  in  the  previ- 
ous three  years  had  been  too  great  for  the  Serbian 

1  Extract   from    his    evidence    in    the    Dardanelles    Report. 


EAST  OR  WEST?  193 

Government  to  be  able  to  bring  them  to  agree  to  so 
large  a  concession.  The  Serbians  were  still  filled  with 
the  glow  of  their  triple  repulse  of  Austria;  and  for  the 
moment  the  new  danger  seemed  to  have  drawn  off.  The 
great  European  thunderstorm  was  now  echoing  far 
away  in  the  mountains  of  Carpathia  and  the  plains  of 
Poland.  It  was  difficult  for  the  Serbians  to  realise  at 
that  moment  that  a  time  would  come  when  security 
would  be  cheap  at  a  great  price. 

In  April  there  came  another  twist  in  the  devious 
track  of  Balkan  intrigue.  M.  Venizelos  had  tendered 
his  first  resignation,  and  Constantine  was  entering  upon 
his  first  effort  to  build  up  an  absolute  monarchy  in 
Athens.  On  April  I5th  the  Crown  Council  made  a  sud- 
den offer  to  bring  Greece  into  the  war  on  the  side  of  the 
Allies.  The  Allies  gravely  suspected  the  honesty  of 
this  offer.  They  knew  that  Greece  was  already  hand 
in  glove  with  Germany ;  and  there  were  strong  reasons 
to  believe  that  the  Royalist  Government  could  not  be 
entrusted  with  Allied  secrets.  In  any  case,  the  Allies 
sent  no  reply;  and  it  was  not  until  Venizelos  regained 
power  that  they  resumed  friendly  negotiations  with  the 
Greek  Government. 

All  through  this  time  Mr.  Lloyd  George  himself 
was  resolute  against  having  any  dealings  whatever  with 
the  King's  party  in  Greece.  He  took  the  strong  line 
that  the  Allies,  as  guarantors  of  the  Greek  constitu- 
tion, should  refuse  to  negotiate  with  any  Government 
which  existed  in  contradiction  to  the  elementary  prin- 
ciples of  democratic  constitutionalism.1 

1  The  treachery  revealed  by  the  Greek  White  Paper  has  since 
shown  the  wisdom  of  this  attitude.  King  Constantine,  it  is  now 
known,  was  in  close  and  constant  communication  with  the  German 
Emperor. 


194  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

At  long  last  (1917)  this  policy  prevailed.  That  an- 
cient and  historic  torch-bearer  of  freedom,  Greece, 
swung  round  to  our  side.  She  ended  by  resisting  the 
despotisms  of  the  North  as  she  resisted  the  despotisms 
of  the  East  in  olden  days.  King  Constantine  went  into 
exile.  M.  Venizelos  became  the  ruler  at  Athens.  He 
threw  the  sword  of  Greece  into  the  trembling  scales  of 
the  great  European  struggle,  and  helped  to  decide  the 
issue. 

The  end  justified  the  hope  to  which  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  clung  through  the  darkest  hours  of  Royal 
Greek  apostasy. 

But  who  shall  say  what  might  have  happened  if  he 
had  not,  through  the  black  years  of  1915  and  1916, 
kept  alive  in  Western  Europe  the  flickering  sparks  of 
faith  in  Greece  ? 


CHAPTER  XVI 

SERBIA 

"We  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died 
in  vain." — ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  1863. 

MR.  LLOYD  GEORGE  now  turned  from  the  disap- 
pointments and  tragedies  of  the  Near  East  to  look 
more  closely  into  the  situation  at  home. 

The  opening  of  1915  was  a  season  of  hope  in  Great 
Britain.  The  great  effort  to  force  the  Dardanelles 
filled  the  public  mind  with  visions.  That  attempt  was 
then  most  lyrically  applauded  by  those  who  afterwards 
rushed  to  denounce  it.  The  whole  outlook  was  mag- 
ically irradiated  with  the  mirage  of  that  golden  prom- 
ise. 

Here  was  a  quick  cure  for  all  our  troubles. 

Men  dreamt  of  a  speedy  blow  that  would  cut  off 
the  Central  Powers  from  Turkey,  and  open  to  Russia 
an  easy  door  to  the  West. 

They  thought  little  at  that  moment,  and  knew  less, 
of  the  blows  which  Germany  was  preparing  for  Rus- 
sia. 

The  story  of  the  Dardanelles  expedition  has  been 
fully  told.1  We  all  know  the  origin  and  history  of 
that  expedition,  and  can  apportion  with  some  fairness 
the  proper  spheres  of  blame  and  praise.  Mr.  Lloyd 

*In  two  Reports,  1917 — Cd.  8490  6d  and  Cmd.  371,  2s  (Part  II). 
The  second,  dealing  with  the  military  operations,  is  very  sensa- 
tional, and  has  not  received  enough  attention. 

195 


196  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

George  took  little  active  personal  part  in  the  planning 
and  preparations  for  it,  though  he  was  a  member  of  the 
War  Council,  and  later  in  June,  became  a  member  of 
the  Dardanelles  Committee.1  His  own  proposal  had 
been  frustrated  by  events.  Here  was  an  alternative, 
hatched  by  other  brains,  inspired  by  other  hopes.  It 
was  a  serious  thing  to  oppose  it  outright.  His  attitude 
from  the  beginning  was  one  of  suspended  judgment. 

"Whatever  you  do,  do  thoroughly;  if  you  do  it  at 
all,  put  your  full  strength  into  it" — that  may  be  summed 
up  as  his  constantly  reiterated  counsel  in  regard  to  the 
Dardanelles. 

If  this  advice  had  been  adopted  perhaps  even  that 
ill-starred  enterprise  might  have  met  with  better  for- 
tune. 

But  meanwhile,  on  other  fields  of  war  a  situation 
was  developing  even  more  menacing  to  Europe  as  a 
whole.  The  great  Teutonic  attack  on  Russia  began 
to  develop  with  terrible  success  in  the  early  spring; 
and  Mr.  Lloyd  George  took  from  the  first  a  most  seri- 
ous view  of  this  tremendous  onslaught. 

In  the  middle  of  February  vast  new  armies  of  Ger- 
mans, prepared  in  the  winter,  advanced  to  the  invasion 
of  Courland,  Poland,  and  Galicia.  The  Russian  armies 
still  in  Eastern  Prussia  had  been  speedily  driven  back 
across  the  frontier  in  wholesale  defeat;  and  the  north-, 
ern  German  armies  began  to  advance  on  to  Russian 
soil.  In  the  centre  of  Eastern  Europe  the  Germans 
advanced  victoriously  to  within  fifty  miles  of  Warsaw 

1The  Dardanelles  Committee,  which  took  over  the  control  of  the 
war  from  the  War  Council  on  June  7th,  1915,  consisted  of  eleven 
members  of  the  Coalition  Government  The  War  Council  were 
all  Liberals.  That  was  superseded  on  November  3rd,  1915,  by 
the  War  Committee,  consisting  of  seven  Ministers.  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  was  a  member  of  all  these  Committees. 


SERBIA  197 

before  they  met  with  a  serious  check.  In  the  south  the 
Austrians  drove  the  Russians  from  Bukovina.  The 
whole  German-Austrian  line  was  advanced  throughout 
the  length  of  Europe,  from  the  Baltic  Sea  to  the  Car- 
pathian Mountains;  and  the  hosts  of  the  Central  Em- 
pires were  preparing  for  that  great  dramatic  thrust 
which  in  May  drove  the  Russians  clean  out  of  Galicia. 

Such  was  the  situation  which  British  statesmen  had 
now  to  face.  It  was  impossible  to  regard  it  with 
indifference. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  refused  to  be  deceived  by  any 
rosy  hopes  either  in  East  or  West.  His  own  view 
was  that  a  firm  grasp  of  reality  was  the  first  step  to 
success.  Unless  they  looked  facts  in  the  face,  they 
could  not  grapple  with  them. 

He  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  Cassandra  of  the 
war;  but,  as  Lord  Morley  once  remarked,  the  worst 
thing  about  Cassandra  was  that  she  proved  to  be  in 
the  right! 

Surveying  the  prospects  of  the  great  war  in  Europe 
as  a  whole,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  seriously  concerned 
about  several  vital  matters. 

The  most  important  of  these  was  that,  comparing 
the  available  military  man-power  on  both  sides  in  this 
great  contest,  the  Entente  Allies  were  at  that  moment 
hopelessly  outnumbered. 

Germany  and  Austria  at  that  moment  had  under 
arms  or  preparing  to  be  armed — according  to  the 
intelligence  supplied  to  the  Government — no  less  than 
8,700,000  men.  Turkey  had  500,000;  she  was  soon, 
indeed,  to  supply  a  far  greater  number  of  her  popula- 
tion as  mercenaries  to  Germany. 


198  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

On  the  other  hand  were  France,  Great  Britain,  Rus- 
sia, and  Serbia.  Italy  had  not  yet  come  into  the  war; 
and  America  was  still  afar  off.  The  trouble  with  Rus- 
sia was  that,  though  she  had  such  an  immense  popula- 
tion, she  had  many  exemptions  and  few  rifles.  France 
was  always  doing  her  very  best;  but  her  census  figures 
spoke  for  themselves.  Great  Britain  was  doing  won- 
ders with  her  voluntary  system.  But  the  question  now 
for  the  first  time  faced  him  full  front — Would  our 
voluntary  system  suffice  to  keep  up  our  armies,  much 
less  to  supply  the  still  greater  armies  that  might  be 
required  for  victory? 

He  still,  at  that  moment,  clung  to  the  voluntary 
system.  He  thought  that  the  necessary  men  could  be 
still  obtained  by  the  voluntary  system  if  it  were  prop- 
erly applied.  His  own  idea  at  that  moment  was  that 
the  best  method  of  obtaining  these  men  along  volun- 
tary lines  was  to  follow  the  quota  system.  He  was  in 
favour  of  letting  each  county  and  town  know  clearly 
what  was  the  proper  proportion  of  men  for  them  to 
supply  for  the  national  need,  and  then  to  leave  the  rest 
to  local  pressure  and  local  patriotism.  He  firmly  be- 
lieved that  if,  for  instance,  it  was  officially  announced 
that  a  particular  county  ought  to  supply,  say,  10,000 
men,  and  if  that  county  had  hitherto  supplied  6,000, 
the  remaining  4,000  would  be  forced  to  come  in  by 
the  strength  of  local  pride. 

That  scheme  was  never  really  tried.  For  some  rea- 
son or  other,  there  were  forces  at  work  against  the 
territorial  system  of  recruiting  ever  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war;  and  thus  one  of  the  greatest  springs 
of  national  energy  remained  untapped. 

It  was  also  his  opinion  that  at  that  time  the  Domin- 


SERBIA  199 

ions  would  send  far  larger  forces  of  men  if  they  were 
fully  informed  about  the  real  facts  of  the  situation, 
instead  of  being  fed  by  news  from  agencies  whose  chief 
motive  seemed  to  be  to  feed  the  popular  vanity.  That 
sensible  policy  was  afterwards  so  strongly  urged  by 
Dominion  statesmen  that  it  was  to  some  small  extent 
adopted. 

Such  were  broadly  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  views  and 
feelings  in  February,  1915.  He  was  still  leaning  to  the 
Eastern  field  of  war  and  looking  out  anxiously  for  any 
chance  of  resuming  his  Eastern  plan  if  Greece  should 
become  more  friendly  or  Bulgaria  repent  of  her  Teu- 
tonic affections.  But  in  the  British  scheme  of  war  the 
plan  of  breaking  through  in  the  West  had  now  resumed 
its  hold  on  military  minds;  and  in  March  the  new 
armies  made  their  first  great  attempt  in  the  attack 
known  as  the  battle  of  Neuve  Chapelle.  The  valour 
and  heroism  of  our  troops  in  that  splendid  effort  broke 
against  the  tangled  defences  of  the  German  hosts; 
and  in  April  and  March  our  armies  were  once  more 
fighting  for  their  bare  existence  in  the  second  battle 
'of  Ypres.  In  May  came  Dunajec,  the  smashing  climax 
to  the  onslaught  of  the  Germans  on  the  Russians  in 
Galicia. 

Tremendously  occupied  as  he  was  through  the  spring 
and  summer  with  the  great  national  effort  to  supply 
our  armies  with  adequate  munitions,  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
was  never  blind  or  indifferent  to  the  general  trend  of 
what  followed. 

Events  began  to  succeed  one  another  with  fearful 
rapidity.  In  May  and  June  the  Russians  were  cleared 
out  of  Galicia.  Then  began  that  great  rush  forward  of 
the  central  German  armies  which  swept  over  fortress 


200  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

after  fortress  "like  castles  of  sand,"  and  submerged 
all  the  fairest  towns  of  Western  Central  Russia.1 

To  these  disasters  there  were,  indeed,  compensa- 
tions in  other  fields  of  war.  On  May  23rd  Italy  de- 
clared war  against  Austria.  In  July  Botha  conquered 
South-West  Africa.  In  the  West  the  British  and 
French  troops  still  held  on  against  the  overwhelming 
forces  of  Germany  attempting  to  snatch  the  Channel 
coast  with  every  devilish  device  of  gas  and  flame. 

But,  on  the  whole,  the  balance  was  against  the  Al- 
lies. The  fact  that  stared  Mr.  Lloyd  George  in  the 
face,  wherever  he  looked  at  the  fields  of  war,  was 
that  the  Allied  armies  were  outnumbered  by  the  stu- 
pendous and  unexpected  man-power  of  Central  Europe. 

It  was  this  fact  that  led  him  in  this  autumn  to  give 
to  the  public  the  first  intimation  that  he,  hitherto  a 
convinced  voluntaryist,  was  now  being  converted, 
against  his  will,  to  compulsory  military  service.  The 
intimation  was  given  in  the  preface  written  to  a  col- 
lection of  his  early  war  speeches.2 

In  the  burning  words  of  that  remarkable  address 
to  the  nation  he  communicated  the  views  which  he 
had  slowly  formed  from  a  close  and  prolonged  sfudy 
of  the  facts  throughout  the  summer: 

"I  know  what  we  are  doing:  our  exertions  are 
undoubtedly  immense.  But  can  we  do  more, 
either  in  men  or  material?  Nothing  but  our 
best  and  utmost  can  pull  us  through.  Are  we  now 

1  Swallowing  up  Warsaw  on  August  4th,  Ivangorod  on  August 
5th,  Siedlce  on  August  i2th,  Kovno  on  August  i7th,  Novo-Georgievsk 
on  August  ipth,  Brest  Litovsk  on  August  25th,  and  Grodno  on 
September  2nd. 

'  Through  Terror  to  Triumph.  Arranged  by  F.  L.  Stevenson,  B.A 
(Lond.)  (Hodder  &  Stoughton.) 


SERBIA  201 

straining  every  nerve  to  make  up  for  lost  time? 
Are  we  getting  all  the  men  we  shall  want  to  put 
into  the  fighting  line  next  year  to  enable  us  even 
to  hold  our  own?  Does  every  man  who  can  help, 
whether  by  fighting  or  by  providing  material,  un- 
derstand clearly  that  ruin  awaits  remissness?" 

Then  came  the  dramatic  climax : 

"If  the  nation  hesitates,  when  the  need  is  clear, 
to  take  the  necessary  steps  to  call  forth  its  man- 
hood to  defend  honour  and  existence;  if  vital 
decisions  are  postponed  until  too  late ;  if  we  neg- 
lect to  make  ready  for  all  probable  eventuali- 
ties; if,  in  fact,  we  give  ground  for  the  accusation 
that  we  are  slouching  into  disaster  as  if  we  were 
walking  along  the  ordinary  paths  of  peace 
without  an  enemy  in  sight — then  I  can  see  no  hope. 
But  if  we  sacrifice  all  we  own,  and  all  we  like  for 
our  native  land;  if  our  preparations  are  charac- 
terised by  grip,  resolution,  and  a  prompt  readi- 
ness in  every  sphere — then  victory  is  assured." 

The  meaning  of  this  appeal  was  obvious.  "To  call 
forth  its  manhood,"  could  only  mean  conscription  for 
the  war;  and  it  was  to  that  policy,  indeed,  that  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  had  been  driven  by  what  seemed  to  him 
the  inevitable  logic  of  the  terrible  events  in  the  fields 
of  war.  In  no  other  way,  indeed,  did  he  think  that 
the  effort  could  be  sustained. 

There  was  no  man  who  had  thrown  himself  more 
vigorously  into  the  volunteer  recruiting  campaign;  there 
was  no  man  who  had  more  sincerely  believed  in  it.  His 


THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

speech  to  the  young  men  at  the  City  Temple  on  No- 
vember loth,  1914,  is  a  splendid  expression  of  that 
appeal.  It  is  still  the  best  attempt  to  argue  with  that 
extreme  pacifist  spirit  which  he  has  always  treated  with 
respect — with  that  imaginative  sympathy  which  under- 
stands while  it  condemns.1 

But  now  he  had  come — reluctantly  but  irrevocably 
— with  the  terrible  honesty  of  a  man  up  against  facts 
— to  the  conclusion  that  the  voluntary  system  would  not 
suffice  against  this  tornado.  "You  cannot  haggle  with 
an  earthquake."  Here  was  a  thing  that  transcended 
all  theories — a  convulsion  of  nature  itself. 

Having  reached  this  conclusion,  he  never  veered. 
He  stood  by  silent  through  all  the  experiments  of  those 
days — the  "Derby  scheme,"  the  quarrel  between  the 
married  and  the  single,  the  "starring"  and  "unstar- 
ring" — until  slowly  the  whole  of  the  Ministry  swung 
round  to  his  point  of  view.  Assailed  by  old  friends 
with  a  hurricane  of  abuse — maligned  and  misinter- 
preted by  men  whose  season  peace  with  venom — he 
yet  held  on  steadily  to  his  view.  There  are  many 
things  one  has  to  dare  and  endure  for  country  and 
fatherland.  Perhaps  the  hardest  thing  of  all  in  this 
country  is  to  profess  a  change  of  opinion. 

"They  say — let  them  say."  He  paid  little  attention 
to  these  assaults.  More  terrible  things  were  absorb- 
ing his  attention. 

The  failure  of  the  purely  naval  attack  on  the  Dar- 
danelles on  March  iSth  (1915)  had  been  followed  by 
the  military  preparations  and  landing  on  April  25th, 

1  "To  precipitate  ideals  is  to  retard  their  advent.  .  .  .  The  surest 
method  of  establishing  the  reign  of  peace  on  earth  is  by  making  the 
way  of  the  transgressor  of  the  peace  of  nations  too  hard  for  the 
rulers  of  men  to  tread." 


SERBIA  203 

and  the  subsequent  great  military  offensive  on  the 
heights  of  Gallipoli.  By  the  end  of  July  that  offensive 
had  failed.  At  this  point  in"  the  development  of  events 
— at  the  end  of  July — Mr.  Lloyd  George  now  definitely 
again  urged  on  his  colleagues  in  the  Government  to 
consider  once  more  the  plan  of  going  to  the  assistance 
of  Serbia  as  alternative  to  going  further  forward  with 
the  Gallipoli  attack.  At  this  time  he  was  very  busy 
with  his  munition  campaign  in  the  country.  But  on  the 
few  occasions  when  he  was  able  to  take  part  in  the 
deliberations  of  the  Dardanelles  Committee  his  atti- 
tude always  was — the  Germans  are  going  to  break 
through  Serbia  as  soon  as  they  can;  so  either  make 
certain  of  getting  to  Constantinople  quickly,  or  con- 
sider whether  you  ought  not  to  go  to  the  assistance 
of  Serbia  with  all  the  strength  you  can  command.  The 
forces  on  Gallipoli  were  obviously  the  nearest  avail- 
able for  such  a  rescue.  The  alternative  adopted  of  a 
renewed  attack  on  Gallipoli  by  way  of  Suvla  Bay  in 
August  only  resulted  in  a  more  tragic  and  wasteful 
failure. 

His  forebodings  in  regard  to  Serbia  were  destined 
to  be  very  quickly  fulfilled,  for  in  October  (1915) 
began  that  dastardly  combined  attack  on  Serbia  which 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  had  foreseen  since  the  beginning  of 
the  year.  The  Germans  had  now  finished  for  the 
moment  with  Russia.  With  deadly  method  they  turned 
to  their  next  victim ;  and  now  the  Bulgarians  from  the 
south  and  the  Teutons  from  the  north  closed  on  that 
unhappy  little  country. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  witnessed  this  assault  with  an 
anguish  of  soul  inevitable  to  one  born  and  bred  in  a 
little  nation  himself.  Even  at  this  last  hour  he  did 


204  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

his  utmost  to  rescue  Serbia  from  her  fate.  He  racked 
his  brains  to  devise  some  method  of  saving  Serbia.  He 
pressed  the  military  authorities  with  a  vehemence  in- 
convenient in  a  world  of  steady  routine  and  disciplined 
ideas.  He  agitated,  argued,  pleaded. 

But  by  this  time  the  facts  were  too  strong  even  for 
him.  Between  us  and  Serbia  lay  a  Royalist  Greece  now 
indifferent  if  not  actually  hostile,  coldly  resolved  to 
abandon  her  pledged  word.  Rumania  was  still  hesi- 
tating and  fearful.  Russia  was  for  the  moment  ex- 
hausted. No  help  was  near  enough  to  hand  to  save 
the  doomed  victim. 

So  the  British  Government  were  compelled  to  stand 
by  helpless  while  the  very  nation  on  whose  account 
the  war  broke  out  was  conquered  and  outraged,  her 
armies  scattered,  her  population  enslaved,  and  her  chil- 
dren scattered  like  sheep  through  the  mountains.1  No 
more  tragic  chapter  is  recorded  in  the  annals  of 
Europe. 

But  the  mischief  did  not  end  there.  Not  only  did 
the  conquest  of  Serbia  give  to  Germany  the  great  link 
with  the  East  for  which  she  yearned,  but  it  completely 
destroyed  all  our  remaining  chances  of  success  on  Gal- 
lipoli.  The  very  enterprise  which  had  already  taken 
the  place  of  the  Serbian  expedition  became  futile  from 
the  moment  of  the  Serbian  disaster.  In  the  beginning 
of  October  the  Turks  had  been  running  so  seriously 
short  of  ammunition  that  success  for  our  arms  seemed 
near  at  hand.  By  the  end  of  the  month  they  were 
fully  replenished.  The  enterprise  became  plainly  im- 
possible from  the  moment  that  Germany,  having  now, 

1  Some   30,000   Serbian  boys  were  sent  across  the  mountains  to  the 
sea  to  escape  from  the  invader.     Less  than  half  reached  the  sea. 


SERBIA  205 

by  the  conquest  of  Serbia  and  the  coming  in  of  Bul- 
garia, achieved  a  direct  route  to  Constantinople,  could 
pour  through  as  much  ammunition  and  as  many  big 
guns  as  the  Turks  required  for  their  defence.1 

On  December  I9th  began  the  withdrawal  from  that 
fatal  peninsula,  and  on  January  8th  of  the  following 
year  not  a  single  British  soldier  remained  on  those 
bloodstained  shores. 

Is  it  not  possible  that  the  more  chivalrous  and  vigor- 
ous action  on  behalf  of  Serbia  for  which  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  had  so  importunately  pressed  might  have  been 
also  the  best  policy  for  the  prosperity  of  the  Allies  in 
the  war  as  a  whole? 

1  See  Lord  Kitchener's  final  telegram  of  November  22nd,  1915, 
which  decided  the  War  Cabinet  to  evacuate  (p.  57  of  Pt.  II,  the  Final 
Report  of  the  Dardanelles  Commission). 


CHAPTER  XVII 

MUNITIONS 

"Like  a  rickety,  clumsy  machine,  with  a  pin  loose  here,  and  a 
tooth  broken  there,  and  a  makeshift  somewhere  else,  in  which  the 
force  of  Hercules  may  be  exhausted  in  a  needless  friction,  and 
obscure  hitches  before  the  hands  are  got  to  move,  so  is  our 
Executive,  with  the  Treasury,  the  Horse  Guards,  the  War  De- 
partment, the  Medical  Department,  all  out  of  gear,  but  all  re- 
quired to  move  together  before  a  result  can  be  obtained.  He  will 
be  stronger  than  Hercules  who  can  get  out  of  it  the  movement 
we  require  " — Colonel  Lefroy's  letter  to  Miss  Florence  Night- 
ingale, Sir  Edward  Cook's  Life  of  Miss  Florence  Nightingale, 
vol.  i.  pp.  322-3. 

FROM  the  early  days  of  the  war  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
had  perceived  that  there  were  two  great  difficulties 
ahead  of  us — men  and  the  arming  of  men — and  that 
perhaps  the  greater  of  the  two  was  the  arming.1  For 
the  first  year,  at  any  rate,  the  question  of  men  seemed 
to  present  little  difficulty.  England's  manhood  came 
flocking  to  the  banner  of  Lord  Kitchener.  The  great 
multitudes  of  free  citizens  who  freely  poured  into  the 
recruiting  offices  after  the  retreat  from  Mons,  will 
always  be  one  of  the  most  splendid  episodes  in  our 
history.  The  patience  and  valour — the  good-humour 
and  endurance — of  those  first  armies  of  "Kitcheners" 
will  always  add  an  imperishable  glory  to  the  name  of 
him  who  summoned  them. 

1  "What  we  stint  in  materials  we  squander  in  life ;  that  is  the 
one  great  lesson  of  munitions." — Mr.  Lloyd  George  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  December  aist,  1915. 

206 


MUNITIONS  207 

So  far,  indeed,  "nought  shall  make  us  rue."  Eng- 
land rested  true  to  herself  and  her  great  cause. 

But  it  was  not  enough  to  gather  the  legions.  It 
was  necessary  also  to  arm  them.  Here  it  soon  be- 
came clear  that  we  were  up  against  a  new  portent. 
The  stupendous  war  equipment  of  the  German  armies, 
both  in  guns  and  in  munitions,  has  since  become  a  com- 
monplace; at  that  time  it  was  a  wonder  and  a  surprise. 
The  War  Office  went  into  the  war  still  thinking  in  terms 
of  the  Boer  War,  when  machine-guns  were  a  new  mir- 
acle and  shrapnel  was  the  last  word  in  shells.  They 
found  themselves  faced  with  an  army  in  which  machine- 
guns  had  become  a  multitudinous  commonplace  and 
shrapnel  was  already  the  humble  servant  of  the  high- 
explosive  shell. 

This  was  clearly,  from  the  first,  a  struggle  of  ma- 
chinery. It  was  riot  an  old-fashioned  war.  It  was  a 
war  monstrously  new — a  fight  against  a  people  im- 
mensely modern  and  scientific,  as  high  in  skill  as  they 
were  low  in  ruth,  armed  cap-a-pie  with  every  device  of 
destruction,  sharpened  to  the  finest  edge  on  the  whet- 
stone of  prepared  war. 

All  this  has  since  become  a  commonplace;  it  is  Mr. 
Lloyd  George's  distinction  that  he  perceived  it  clearly 
in  the  autumn  of  1914.  Then  in  the  Cabinet  he  already 
insisted  on  the  need  for  increased  armaments.  He 
preached  in  season  and  out  of  season  the  need  for 
guns;  and  in  the  autumn  of  1914  the  Cabinet  Com- 
mittee, of  which  he  was  a  member,  forced  the  War 
Office  to  order  4,000  guns  instead  of  600  for  the  fol- 
lowing year  (1915). 

But  as  the  weeks  passed  a  situation  began  to  arise 
which  threw  even  this  provision  into  the  shade  of  in- 


208  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

adequacy.  It  became  clear  that  we  had  to  help  in  the 
munitioning  of  our  Allies.  There  was  France — early 
in  the  war  she  lost  her  richest  industrial  districts.  With 
splendid  promptitude  she  had  organised  her  factories 
for  the  making  of  guns,  shells,  and  rifles.  But  she 
required  to  be  supplied  with  the  raw  materials  now 
lacking  to  her. 

A  far  graver  need  was  soon  to  arise  in  Russia.  The 
German  victories  of  1915  placed  Germany  in  posses- 
sion of  70  per  cent,  of  the  Russian  steel-producing  area. 
Her  millions  from  that  time  required  arming,  not 
merely  for  victory,  but  also,  it  soon  became  clear,  even 
for  defence.1 

To  meet  this  colossal  situation  Great  Britain  was 
but  poorly  provided.  The  Navy  absorbed  for  her 
great  needs  the  principal  national  engineering  resources 
of  the  country.  The  only  British  military  machine  of 
munition-supply  at  the  opening  of  the  war  was  the 
Ordnance  Department  of  the  War  Office.  Nothing 
could  exceed  the  devotion  and  zeal  of  the  men  at 
the  head  of  that  office.  But  it  was  hopelessly  under- 
equipped  for  so  great  a  call.  It  was  wanting  in  staff, 
resources,  and  ideas.  It  was  perilously  detached  from 
our  great  civilian  industries.  It  found  itself  faced  with 
unparalleled  difficulties  of  material  and  labour.  For 
with  the  opening  of  the  war  we  were  cut  off  from  some 
of  our  most  important  raw  ingredients  for  explosives; 
and  the  very  fervour  of  our  first  great  recruiting  cam- 
paign, too  little  directed  and  restricted,  denuded  the 
possible  workshops  of  war. 

1The  evidence  in  the  Sukhomikoff  trial  has  now  brought  out  the 
immensity  of  this  shortcoming,  not  then  fully  divulged  to  the  British 
Government  by  the  Russian  governing  power. 


MUNITIONS  209 

There  were  many  crises  in  this  situation.  One  of 
the  gravest  occurred  in  the  late  autumn  of  1914,  when 
we  were  faced  with  a  complete  inability  to  supply  the 
army  with  explosives  for  the  making  of  mines.  How 
that  situation  was  met  by  a  group  of  civil  servants  and 
public  men,  and  its  first  acuteness  lessened  by  the  for- 
mation of  an  Explosives  Committee  in  the  Board  of 
Trade  under  Lord  Moulton  has  already  been  revealed 
by  Lord  Moulton  himself.1  It  is  one  of  the  great 
stories  of  the  war. 

But  no  such  departmental  devices  could  long  suffice 
to  meet  the  terrific  call  of  the  situation  as  a  whole.  As 
the  weeks  passed,  it  gradually  became  clear  to  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  that,  if  we  were  to  be  saved,  a  tremen- 
dous and  radical  change  was  required.  This  was  noth- 
ing less  than  the  calling  to  our  aid  in  this  war  all  those 
great  manufacturing  resources  of  the  nation  which  had 
given  us  our  ascendancy  in  peace. 

The  manufacturers,  indeed,  were  quite  willing  to 
come.  They  needed  no  call.  They  were  eager  to  help. 
They  already  clamoured  at  the  door. 

But  the  soldier  is  not  suited  by  the  traditions  of  his 
calling  to  work  easily  with  the  civilian.  That  very 
virtue  of  iron  discipline  which  is  the  habit  of  war  mili- 
tated against  the  free  play  of  mind  essential  to  a  new 
development  of  industry.  There  is  a  story  of  a  great 
business  man  from  the  North  of  England  who,  after 
being  summoned  to  the  War  Office  for  the  transaction 
of  business,  was  kept  waiting  for  two  hours,  and  then 
told  that  the  officer  in  command  had  gone  off  for  his 
lunch.  He  is  said  to  have  picked  up  his  hat  and  said 
decisively:  "Tell  the  General  that  if  he  wants  me  again 

1  See  his  evidence  in  the  Mond  libel  action. 


210  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

he  must  send  a  battalion  to  fetch  me."  It  was  a  fair 
reminder  that  there  are  limits  to  the  power  of  mere 
military  discipline. 

Those  who  lived  in  the  centre  of  things  during  the 
spring  of  1915  will  remember  the  flood  of  such  nar- 
ratives— many  of  them  told  to  the  House  of  Com- 
mons 1 — which  came  from  the  mouths  of  indignant  and 
offended  manufacturers.  Offers  were  rejected  which 
afterwards  proved  essential.  Orders  were  given  and 
then  forgotten.  Machinery  was  set  up  and  then  not 
used.  There  was  devotion  and  zeal;  but  there  was  no  ad- 
equate organisation  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  present, 
and  no  proper  foresight  as  to  the  needs  of  the  future. 

Lord  Kitchener,  indeed,  had  a  deserved  reputation 
for  organising  capacity;  but  that  eminent  man  was 
hopelessly  overwhelmed.  It  was  the  fault  of  those 
who  expected  too  much  of  him — who  first  spoke  of  him 
as  a  god  and  finally  treated  him  as  a  dog.  Reluctantly 
giving  up  Egypt  for  the  War  Office,  Lord  Kitchener 
found  himself  in  control  of  a  ship  unmanned.  The 
splendid  military  staff  gathered  at  the  War  Office  had 
been  scattered  to  all  the  fields  of  war.  He  found  him- 
self very  much  alone.  He  felt  compelled  to  act  as  his 
own  Chief  of  Staff,  his  own  organiser  of  recruiting, 
his  own  controller  of  supplies.  Among  his  great  gifts 
he  did  not  possess  that  of  easy  and  swift  delegation. 
He  saw  that  the  War  Office  required  to  be  built  up 
afresh;  but  he  did  not  feel  equal  to  building  it  up  dur- 
ing a  great  war.  The  result  was  that  he  took  too  much 
on  himself,  and  most  lamentably  diminished  his  own 
splendid  utility  in  the  process. 

1  See   Debate   of   April   22nd,    1915.     Mr.   Bonar   Law   gave   some 
striking  instances. 


MUNITIONS  211 

Such  a  method  was  certain  to  lead  to  neglect  and 
delay  in  some  of  the  chief  functions  of  war.  All  were 
delayed  and  many  were  neglected.  But  where  delay 
and  neglect  met  in  most  disastrous  combinations  was 
in  this  matter  of  the  supply  of  the  munitions  of  war. 

So  grave  did  this  defect  become  that  it  threatened 
our  cause  before  long  with  irretrievable  disaster.  It 
was  only  a  great  effort  of  the  whole  nation,  combined  in 
one  common  impulse  of  energy,  that  saved  the  cause. 

In  that  effort  Mr.  Lloyd  George  took  a  great  and 
leading  part. 

His  plea  for  guns  in  the  autumn  of  1914  was  fol- 
lowed up  by  a  visit  to  France,  where  he  was  enabled 
to  obtain  insight  into  the  great  effort  of  industrial 
reorganisation  which  had  enabled  France  to  rearm 
after  the  loss  of  the  North,  and  the  shock  of  the  Ger- 
man invasion.  He  returned  with  a  full  report  on  this 
achievement,  due  to  the  great  energy  and  splendid 
public  spirit  of  that  great  Frenchman,  M.  Albert 
Thomas. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  proposed  to  the  Cabinet  that 
Great  Britain  should  follow  in  the  steps  of  France. 
Mr.  Asquith  was  quite  willing;  and  a  Cabinet  Commit- 
tee was  set  up  with  advisory  powers  to  work  out  the 
details.  The  Committee  sat  at  the  War  Office  with 
Lord  Kitchener  in  the  chair.  The  matter  was  fully 
discussed.  The  War  Office  appeared  to  agree  to  adopt 
the  French  scheme.  Weeks  passed.  Then  it  was  dis- 
covered that  little  or  no  action  had  been  taken.  It 
was  clear  that  ;t  was  the  executive  arm  which  was  at 
fault. 

The   winter  months   passed,   and   there   was  little 


THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

quickening  of  energy.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  the 
Kitchener  recruits  were  without  clothes,  arms,  rifles, 
or  guns.  Rumours  and  murmurs  began  to  come  from 
the  front  of  the  tremendous  British  losses  from  supe- 
rior German  guns. 

In  February  a  new  danger  became  instantly  vital. 
The  news  came  from  the  East  of  Europe  of  the  definite 
breakdown  of  the  Russian  armaments.  Their  gigantic 
armies  threatened  to  become  unarmed  mobs. 

In  the  West  things  were  little  better.  During  Feb- 
ruary and  March  fuller  details  began  to  reach  London 
— of  one  British  machine-gun  against  ten  German;  of 
four  British  shells  against  forty  German.  The  sup- 
pression of  the  free  and  independent  War  Correspon- 
dent had  cast  a  veil  of  silence  over  the  realities  of  the 
war.  The  truth  was  struggling  to  come  through;  and 
not  all  the  efforts  of  all  the  censors  could  entirely  suf- 
focate and  strangle  it.  But  it  meant  that  any  zealous 
Minister  had  to  fight  hard  against  a  lethal  atmosphere 
of  secrecy  that  soon  bred  ignorance. 

Against  this  atmosphere  Mr.  Lloyd  George  per- 
sistently battled;  and  in  the  early  weeks  of  April  he 
made  a  fresh  appeal  for  further  speeding  up.  The 
Prime  Minister  (Mr.  Asquith)  agreed.  On  April 
1 3th  (1915)  he  appointed  a  strong  Munitions  Com- 
mittee, known  as  the  Treasury  Committee,  consisting 
of  Ministers,  civil  servants  and  experts,  with  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  in  the  chair.1 

That  Committee  had  no  executive  powers.    It  could 

1  Among  the  other  members  of  that  Committee  were  Mr.  Balfour, 
Mr.  Montagu,  Mr.  George  Booth,  Sir  Herbert  Llewellyn  Smith, 
Admiral  Tudor,  and  General  Von  Donop.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  made 
on  April  22nd,  1915,  a  statement  in  the  House  of  Commons  as  to 
the  work  achieved  by  this  Committee. 


MUNITIONS  213 

only  co-ordinate  departments,  and  make  suggestions. 
It  was  no  more  than  a  departmental  Committee;  but, 
in  spite  of  this  shortcoming  it  was  able  to  give  val- 
uable advice,  much  of  which  was  acted  upon.  It  sup- 
plied new  ideas.  It  was  often  able  to  meet  special 
emergencies. 

But  from  the  very  beginning  this  Committee  suf- 
fered from  one  grave,  paralysing  defect:  it  could  ob- 
tain no  full  or  comprehensive  view  of  the  needs  and 
demands  of  the  war.  Perhaps  the  chiefs  of  the  War 
Office  did  not  know  themselves.  In  the  hurry  and  bus- 
tle of  war  perhaps  it  is  not  incredible  they  had  no  leis- 
ure to  take  the  larger  and  longer  view.  But  in  a  long 
war  that  view  was  indispensable  to  action.  The  result 
of  that  ignorance,  therefore,  was  fatal  to  this  Commit- 
tee. It  never  knew  enough  to  act  or  decide  with  effect. 
Lord  Kitchener  may  have  had  his  reasons;  but  the  fact 
stands  out  that  he  refrained  from  arming  this  impor- 
tant Munitions  Committee  of  April  and  May,  1915, 
with  the  full  knowledge  necessary  for  real  power. 

At  this  point  an  astonishing  thing  occurred.  The 
Western  Army  took  the  matter  into  their  own  hands. 

There  are  many  things  that  fighting  men  will  en- 
dure— incredible  tortures,  surpassing  those  of  the  early 
martyrs.  But  there  is  one  thing  which  always  tries 
them  beyond  the  limit:  that  is  to  be  hit  without  the 
power  of  hitting  back — to  be  shelled  without  being  able 
to  shell.  Such  was  now  (in  April  and  May,  1915) 
the  intolerable  situation  of  the  men  under  General 
French's  command  in  France.1  They  decided  that  it 
was  not  their  duty  to  accept  this  cruel  fate  without  some 
effort  to  find  a  cure. 

1  See  his  statement  to  the  Journal  correspondent  in  September  1917. 


THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

They  found  their  applications  misunderstood,  ig- 
nored, postponed.  They  realised  that  Ministers  were 
not  allowed  to  know  the  truth.  They  gathered  from 
his  public  utterance  at  Newcastle  on  April  2Oth  l  that 
the  truth  was  being  concealed  even  from  the  Prime 
Minister  (Mr.  Asquith)  himself.  They  perceived  that 
the  public  were  blind-folded.  They  determined  to  take 
steps  to  open  their  eyes. 

With  this  design  and  object,  the  Headquarters  Staff 
in  France  invited  certain  famous  journalists  and  pub- 
licists to  the  front  to  witness  for  themselves  the  results 
of  the  lack  of  proper  shells  in  the  attack  on  the  Aubers 
ridge.2  Most  of  those  visitors  found  themselves  help- 
less in  the  grip  of  a  double  censorship — in  France  and 
in  England.  One  of  them,  however,  the  famous  mili- 
tary correspondent  of  the  Times,3  wrote  his  despatch 
on  the  spot  and  sent  it  through  the  censorship  of  the 
field  of  battle,  severe  indeed,  but  on  this  occasion, 
perhaps,  a  little  more  friendly.  In  this  way,  and  thanks 
to  the  historic  prestige  of  the  great  organ  which  pub- 
lished it,  there  appeared  in  the  Times  of  May  I4th, 
1915,  that  famous  message  from  the  front,  "mutilated 
and  twice  censored,"  4  which  itself  proved  so  powerful 
a  petard. 

1  "I   saw   a  statement  the  other  day  that  the  operations,  not  only 
of  our  Army,  but  of  our  Allies  were  being  crippled,  or  at  any  rate 
hampered,  by  our  failure  to  provide  the  necessary  ammunition.    There 
is  not  a  word  of  truth  in  that  statement."     (Loud  cheers.)      Times 
report. 

2  See   the    full    account    in   Lord   French's   "1914."     His    statements 
have  not  in  substance  been  affected  by  the  controversies  which  have 
raged  round  this  book. 

3  Lieutenant-Colonel   Charles  A'Court  Repington,    C.M.G. 

4  See    the    Times    leading   article.     But   on   May   i8th   Mr.   Asquith 
said  in  the   House  of  Commons  that  the   despatch   was  censored   in 
France  and  Mr.  Tennant  added  that  it  never  came  before  the  British 
Censorship.     The   open   official   chagrin    at   its   emergence   into   print 
is  one  of  the  most  significant  features  of  the  whole  episode. 


MUNITIONS  215 

"The  want  of  an  unlimited  supply  of  high  explosive 
was  a  fatal  bar  to  our  success" — that  was  the  verdict 
of  the  Times  correspondent;  and  it  was  confirmed  by 
every  observer  and  every  soldier  at  the  front,  includ- 
ing the  soldier  members  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
Once  the  word  was  uttered  in  public,  the  floodgates 
were  opened.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  Government 
tried  to  stem  the  torrent  of  evidence.  Lord  Kitchener 
rose  on  May  i8th  to  make  a  statement  in  the  House 
of  Lords;  but  in  that  speech  he  showed  that  strange 
habit  of  the  unexpected  which  baulked  even  his  friends. 
For,  instead  of  denying,  he  practically  admitted  the 
indictment,  and  for  the  first  time  stated  in  public  what 
seemed  to  contradict  the  Newcastle  utterance  of  the 
Prime  Minister — that  there  had  been  "undoubtedly 
considerable  delay  in  producing  the  material." 

This  was  indeed  a  mild  way  of  stating  the  true  facts. 
These  continued  now  to  pour  through  from  the  front 
with1  all  the  indecency  of  truth  emancipated.  The 
order-paper  of  the  House  of  Commons  began  to  bristle 
with  questions  and  threats  of  debate;  and  it  was  only 
on  the  plea  of  public  emergency  that  the  Government 
postponed  crisis. 

On  the  following  day  Mr.  Lloyd  George  received  in- 
formation which  more  than  confirmed  the  statement 
of  the  Times  correspondent.  He  realised  with  amaze- 
ment that  the  Munitions  Committee  had  been  kept  in 
ignorance  of  essentials;  that  the  mainspring  had  been 
missing  from  the  watch.  He  determined  to  resign 
from  a  function  so  void  of  power;  and  on  May  iQth 
he  wrote  a  letter  announcing  his  decision,  and  giving  his 
grave  and  weighty  reasons.  He  refused  to  remain 


216  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

chairman  of  a  Committee  which  had  no  real  executive 
power. 

The  situation  now  moved  rapidly. 

On  the  afternoon  of  that  day  (May  iQth)  Mr.  As- 
quith  announced  to  the  House  of  Commons  that  the 
Liberal  Government  which  had  been  in  power  since 
1910  had  ceased  to  exist,  and  that  he  proposed  to  re- 
construct the  Government  "on  a  broader  personal  and 
political  basis."  In  other  words,  he  had  decided  for 
Coalition. 

It  was  a  wise  and  prudent  decision.  The  Opposition 
had  full  grasp  of  the  situation  at  the  front.  They  had 
not  yet  manoeuvred  for  battle,  but  there  was  already 
forming  in  the  minds  of  their  leaders  the  conviction  that 
they  could  no  longer  accept  the  responsibility  of  a  si- 
lence which  would  inevitably  spell  complicity.  If  they 
were  to  continue  silent  they  must  share  the  govern- 
ment. The  only  alternative  was  the  open  scandal  of  a 
bitter  party  struggle,  not  without  the  possibility  of 
grave  injury  to  national  interests. 

But  a  Coalition  Government  alone  was  not  enough. 
It  was  necessary  to  have  some  guarantee  that  the  gen- 
eral calamitous  shortage  of  munitions x  should  not 
continue.  It  is  not  the  habit  of  England  to  send  her 
youth  unarmed  to  face  her  enemies.  At  all  costs  this 
grievous  peril  must  cease. 

But  it  was  already  clear  to  all  parties  that  the  War 
Office  was  far  too  heavily  burdened  to  continue  bear- 
ing this  responsibility.  There  must  be  a  division  of 
function.  Lord  Kitchener  must  be  left  to  raise  the 


1  Of  all  munitions,  not  only  explosives.  It  proved  subsequently 
that  the  chief  want  was  big  guns  for  the  high-explosive  shells  and 
that  the  smaller  guns  were  better  suited  with  shrapnel. 


MUNITIONS  217 

armies.  Another  office  must  take  over  the  duty  of 
arming  and  equipping  them.  From  this  conviction 
arose  the  idea  of  a  new  Department — the  Ministry  of 
Munitions — for  which  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  already, 
by  the  unanimous  voice  of  public  opinion,  declared 
elect. 

So  on  May  25th,  1915,  after  seven  years  as  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  closed 
the  door  of  the  Treasury  behind  him  and  became  the 
first  British  Minister  of  Munitions.  It  was  a  great 
adventure.  He  was  leaving  behind  him  the  secure  van- 
tage of  an  old  historic  Department.  He  was  entering 
upon  a  region  unexplored,  without  map  or  compass, 
without  precedent  or  guide. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  NEW  MINISTRY  OF  MUNITIONS 

"Now  all  the  youth  of  England  is  on  fire, 
And  silken  dalliance  in  the  wardrobe  lies; 
Now  thrive  the  armourers,  and  honour's  thought 
Reigns  solely  in  the  breast  of  every  man." 

Henry  V ,  Prologue  to  Act  II. 

THE  little  group  of  men  whom  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
assembled  round  him  at  No.  6,  Whitehall  Gardens, 
during  the  Whit-week  of  1915,  certainly  seemed  to 
have  no  easy  task  before  them.  A  new  Ministry  had 
been  founded,  and  a  Bill  to  define  its  functions  was 
being  drawn  up.  But  the  Ministry  possessed  neither 
buildings  nor  staff,  neither  furniture  nor  office  paper. 
It  stepped  forth  into  the  world  bare  as  a  new-born 
babe.1 

Even  when  its  functions  had  been  defined  by  Act 
of  Parliament  there  always  hung  about  this  enterprise 
an  atmosphere  of  indefinable  adventure.  Its  relations 
to  other  Departments,  and  especially  to  the  War  Of- 
fice, were  never  precisely  defined.  It  was  always  the 
parvenu  of  Ministries.  Throughout  the  crises  of 
1915  and  1916  it  carried  with  it  the  spirit  of  Esau,  its 
hand  against  every  man  and  every  man's  hand  against 
it. 

1  See  Dr.  Addison's  description  (House  of  Commons,  June  28th, 
1917)  :  "There  was  to  be  one  aim,  and  one  aim  only — to  obtain  the 
goods  and  make  delivery  of  them  to  the  Army.  No  other  interests 
and  no  considerations  of  leisure  were  to  be  entertained." 

218 


After  all,  that  was  precisely  the  kind  of  office  for 
which  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  best  fitted.  He  was 
ever  impatient  of  precedents;  here  was  a  case  where 
he  had  to  make  his  own  precedents.  He  always  loved 
trespassing.  Here  was  an  office  where  every  move- 
ment was  practically  a  raid  on  the  ground  sacred  to 
some  other  Department. 

He  was  never  in  the  least  troubled  by  the  restric- 
tions of  the  situation.  He  soon  found  out  one  vital 
fact — that  our  supply  of  shells  had  sunk  to  75,000. 
But  he  rapidly  grasped  that  there  were  many  other 
things  required  for  success  besides  shells.  There  were, 
for  instance,  guns  to  fire  them  from — big  guns  such  as 
were  entirely  lacking  at  that  time.  In  June  of  1915, 
finding  that  he  still  could  obtain  no  sure  or  certain 
idea  of  what  was  needed  at  the  front,  he  travelled  to 
Boulogne,  and  met  a  little  party  of  officers,  many  of 
them  French,  in  a  small  cafe.  The  party  consisted 
partly  of  Generals,  and  partly  of  regimental  officers. 
He  listened  to  all;  for  he  wanted  to  know  what  was 
wanted  in  the  firing  line  as  much  as  what  was  thought 
to  be  wanted  at  Headquarters.  He  closely  questioned 
the  French  artillerists  as  to  the  number  of  guns  they 
were  using.  General  Du  Cane  1  was  there  from  our 
Headquarters'  Staff;  and  he  brought  with  him  a  full 
report  of  what  guns  were  required  according  to  their 
views. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  began  to  realise  that  the  need  for 
big  guns  was*  the  centre  of  the  situation. 

After  his  cross-examination  was  over,  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  turned  to  General  Du  Cane: 

1  Lieutenant-General  Sir  John  Philip  Du  Cane,  Major-General 
R.A.,  G.H.Q.,  1915.  Afterwards  British  representative  with  Marshal 
Foch. 


220  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

"Don't  you  think  you  had  better  go  back  and  revise 
your  estimates?" 

General  Du  Cane  promptly  agreed — he  had  him- 
self been  converted.  He  went  back  to  Headquarters. 

At  midday  there  was  a  break  in  these  urgent  talks. 
M.  Albert  Thomas  suggested  that  in  the  afternoon  they 
ought  to  have  a  formal  meeting  to  go  into  the  whole 
subject. 

"I  am  sorry,"  said  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  "but  I  must 
get  back  to  England." 

"Go  back  already?" 

"Yes,  already — there  is  not  a  moment  to  be  lost. 
These  big  guns  must  be  ordered." 

He  went  back.  A  revived  estimate  of  the  munition 
requirements  in  France  was  sent  to  Whitehall.  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  increased  that  estimate.  He  sent  it 
across  to  Lord  Kitchener.  The  great  man,  willing 
but  doubtful  of  our  resources,  sent  it  back  with  a  com- 
ment :  "That  will  take  three  years."  J 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  then  called  together  all  the  heads 
of  the  armament  firms.  He  laid  the  scheme  before 
them.  They  viewed  it  with  grave  doubts.  They  pro- 
duced laborious  estimates — discussed — consulted  their 
chiefs. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  put  aside  all  the  papers. 

"Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "this  has  to  be  done  if  the 
country  is  to  be  saved.  You  will  do  it !" 

There  was  nothing  more  to  be  said.  They  went 
away  to  do  it;  and  they  did  it. 

The  high  officials  responsible  for  financial  control 
were  a  little  disturbed  at  his  way  of  conducting  busi- 

1  Similarly,   to   Lord   French   he   said   eight  years    (Journal   inter- 
view,  Sept.    1917). 


THE  NEW  MINISTRY  OK  MUNITIONS 

ness.  Later  on,  yet  more  guns  were  ordered,  and 
official  protests  from  other  Departments  were  car- 
ried up  to  the  highest  quarters.  But  before  a  decision 
could  be  reached  the  orders  had  been  given  out,  and 
the  great  guns — the  guns  that  saved  France  and  Eng- 
land— were  on  the  way.1 

That  was  characteristic  of  his  way  of  ufcing  the  new 
machinery  of  the  new  Ministry. 

How  this  new  Department  of  State  was  gradually 
built  up;  how  picked  men  from  all  over  the  country, 
and  from  the  Civil  Service,  were  gathered  to  the  side 
of  the  new  Minister;  how  buildings  were  secured  from 
day  to  day  for  the  work  of  administration ;  how  exces- 
sive hours  were  worked  and  excessive  risks  were  run 
by  old  as  well  as  young,  and  women  as  well  as  men,— 7- 
this  story  has  already  been  largely  told  in  the  Par- 
liamentary statements  of  the  Munition  Ministers,2  and 
it  is  one  of  the  most  romantic  and  thrilling  chapters 
in  the  history  of  the  war. 

There  are  one  or  two  features  in  the  history  of  this 
movement  which  especially  illustrate  the  characteristics 
of  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  his  power  of  appeal  to  the 
public. 

The  first  of  these  was  the  rally  of  the  business  men 
of  England  in  response  to  his  call.  The  British  com- 
mercial classes  were  not,  in  the  period  before  the  war, 
particularly  attached  to  Mr.  Lloyd  George.  They 

*Mr.  Montagu,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  on  August  i6th,  1916, 
said  openly  that  "Mr.  Lloyd  George  ordered  far  more  guns  than 
were  thought  by  the  War  Office  to  be  necessary,  and  yet  received 
new  requirements  showing  that  he  had  not  ordered  enough." 

2  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  statement  of  December  2ist,  1915,  Mr.  Mon- 
tagu's statement  of  August  i6th,  1916,  and  Dr.  Addison's  statement 
of  June  28th,  1917. 


222  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

had  some  "bones  to  pick"  with  him.  But  it  must  be 
said,  to  their  eternal  credit,  that  when  they  realised 
the  need  of  their  country  the  old  hatchet  was  at  once 
put  underground.  They  came  in  hundreds  to  help  him. 
Many  of  them  came  without  price,  leaving  their  own 
factories  and  workshops,  putting  aside  their  chance  of 
personal  profit,  and  content  to  live  on  such  salaries  as 
their  business  could  afford  them.  It  is  true  that 
many  of  them  have  risen  to  high  honour  in  this  ser- 
vice. It  is  well  that  it  should  be  so. 

Happily  there  is  sufficient  soul  of  good  in  things  to 
justify  sacrifice  and  even  to  reward  it.  It  is  no  ill  thing 
that  many  of  these  men  have  risen  to  high  honour  and 
blazoned  their  names  on  the  roll  of  England's  noblest 
servants. 

But  it  was  not  only  the  commercial  men  that  came 
forward  voluntarily  to  answer  the  call.  The  Civil  Ser- 
vants also  volunteered  from  all  branches  of  the  Ser- 
vice to  undertake  increased  responsibility  without  ad- 
ditional gain.  It  was  laid  down  from  the  beginning 
that  none  of  those  Civil  Servants  who  came  into  the 
Munition  Service  should  receive  extra  pay  for  extra 
work.  Second  division  clerks  raised  to  higher  posts 
still  continued  to  receive  the  old  salaries;  so  great  was 
the  eagerness  to  save  the  country  that  men  worked 
overtime  without  complaint,  and  there  were  in  those 
early  days  many  men  who  came  suspiciously  near  to 
working  night  shifts  as  well  as  day. 

It  was  precisely  the  combination  of  the  best  Civil 
Servants  with  the  best  commercial  men  that  gave  to 
the  Ministry  of  Munitions  such  a  marvellous  touch 
of  efficiency.  Manufacturers  coming  up  from  the  prov- 
inces were  now  pleasantly  surprised  to  find  a  new 


THE  NEW  MINISTRY  OP  MUNITIONS    223 

swiftness  of  despatch  in  the  conduct  of  their  business. 
Every  one  brought  into  touch  with  the  Ministry  of 
Munitions  found  a  new  spirit  which  seemed  to  give  a 
new  hope  for  the  government  of  this  country.  There 
was  a  certain  thrill  about  the  most  common  affairs 
within  those  walls.  Every  servant  of  the  Ministry, 
down  to  the  very  boys  and  girls  who  carried  the  mes- 
sages, seemed  to  feel  that  they  were  called  to  a  high 
task  for  a  great  end.  It  was  in  this  spirit  that  this 
great  effort  was  undertaken  and  sustained  throughout 
the  years  that  followed.  At  the  same  time  the  country 
as  a  whole  found  itself  provided  at  last  with  a  capable 
machinery  for  using  its  services.  Not  only  was  the 
centre  quickened  and  sharpened  to  new  uses,  but  the 
whole  of  the  United  Kingdom  was  mapped  out  and  in 
every  district  there  sat  a  Committee  who  formed  a 
careful  estimate  of  the  resources  of  that  area.1 

On  the  basis  of  that  estimate  there  now  began  to 
grow  up,  as  if  by  magic,  that  vast  network  of  new 
war  factories  which  saved  the  armies  in  France.  The 
factories  grew  up  chiefly  near  the  iron  and  coal  which 
provided  the  raw  material  of  munitions  and  handy  to 
the  great  supplies  of  skilled  labour.2 

But  no  adjustment  could  avoid  a  great  upheaval  of 
social  life.  For  it  was  part  of  this  great  change  that 
a  vast  mass  of  labour  must  be  transferred  from  the  in- 
dustries of  peace  to  the  industries  of  war. 

It  was  also  part  of  the  great  stress  of  this  crisis 

1  Twelve  areas:  England  and  Wales,  8;  Scotland,  2;  Ireland,  2; 
40  local  Munition  Committees  in  the  engineering  centres  consisting 
of  local  business  men.  (Mr.  Lloyd  George,  December  2ist,  1915.) 

*  Within  a  year  the  labour  employed  on  munitions  had  gone  up 
from  1,635,000  to  2,250,000,  and  there  were  32  national  shell  factories, 
12  for  projectiles,  6  for  cartridges,  etc.  (Mr.  Montagu,  August 


224  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

that  the  State  must  be  sure  of  its  labour  and  that  it  must 
be  able- to  draw  from  that  labour  the  utmost  power  of 
effort,  sustained  and  continued  through  a  prolonged 
period  of  time. 

Here  lay  the  necessity  for  a  new  War  Labour  policy, 
difficult  and  delicate  to  justify  and  administer,  but  indis- 
pensable for  the  safety  of  the  country. 

It  was  clearly  impossible  to  guarantee  the  adequate 
war  output  of  this  vast  aggregate  of  factories  and 
workshops  on  the- basis  of  the  old  peace  conditions — 
with  an  uncertain  supply  of  skilled  labour  shifting  about 
from  shop  to  shop  along  the  ordinary  channels  of  de- 
mand and  supply.  The  habit  of  "stealing"  labour  by 
the  offer  of  higher  wages, had  already  grown  to  so  high 
a  point  in  the  early  days  of  the  war  that  the  Munitions 
Committee  had  had  to  issue  an  order  under  the  De- 
fence of  the  Realm  Act  making  it  an  offence  to  "en- 
tice." 1  Thus  the  peace  freedom  of  movement  had 
already  been  suspended.  But  now  it  was  necessary  to 
carry  the  restrictions  further  and  to  guarantee  to  the 
nation  at  war  a  hold  on  its  workmen  similar  in  kind, 
though  not  in  degree,  to  the  hold  on  its  soldiers. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  characteristically  wished  to  make 
the  bold  appeal,  and  to  say  to  the  workmen:  "Submit 
to  the  same  discipline  as  your  sons  in  the  trenches. 
Place  yourselves  under  the  same  law,  with  this  only 
difference — that  you  are  better-paid  men."  2  But  this 
proposal,  when  laid  before  the  leaders  of  the  Trade 

1  There  had  also  been  in  March  an  agreement  between  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  Trade  Unions  called  the  Treasury  Agreement,  and 
administered  by  a  Labour  Advisory  Committee.  The  general  line 
of  that  agreement  was  an  understanding  to  suspend  restrictive  Trade 
Union  practices  in  return  for  a  promise  to  tax  excess  profits. 

3  He  put  this  appeal  very  strongly  in  a  speech  to  the  engineers  at 
Cardiff  on  June  nth,  1915. 


THE  NEW  MINISTRY  OF  MUNITIONS    225 

Unions,  met  with  fierce  opposition.  The  "conscription 
of  labour,"  as  it  was  called,  was  denounced  as  a  "new 
slavery."  Some  degree  of  national  consent  to  such  a 
measure  was  plainly  necessary.  So  that  proposal  was 
dropped,  and  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  set  out  to 
search  for  a  new  policy. 

The  policy  finally  agreed  upon  took  shape  in  the  first 
Munitions  Act  and  the  subsequent  amending  measures. 
Round  those  measures  a  great  strife  afterwards  arose, 
and  it  may  be  worth  while  to  say  something  as  to  their 
origin  and  justification. 

It  was  absolutely  necessary,  if  the  armies  were  to  be 
properly  supplied  with  the  immense  mass  of  munitions 
required,  that  the  workers  should  both  consent  to  the 
limitation  of  their  freedom  of  movement  and  should 
also  suspend  a  number  of  those  limitations  and  con- 
ditions of  toil  which  had  been  won  in  the  course  of 
the  long  conflict  between  Capital  and  Labour. 

It  was  desirable  to  come  to  a  bargain;  and  with  that 
view  the  Trade  Unions  were  consulted  at  every  point. 
If  the  Government  must  trust  Labour,  Labour  must 
also  trust  the  Government.  Labour  must  have  assur- 
ance that  a  temporary  suspension  of  conditions  should 
not  prejudice  the  position  in  time  of  peace.  That  as- 
surance had  been  already  given,  and  was  now  formally 
embodied  in  the  Munitions  Act.1 

On  these  broad  lines  had  grown  up  this  Concordat, 
which,  with  all  its  frictions  and  inevitable  misunder- 
standings, still  carried  the  country  through  the  mo- 
ments of  gravest  peril.  The  liberty  of  Labour  was 

1  Clause  20  of  the  main  Act:  "This  Act  shall  have  effect  only  so 
long  as  the  Office  of  Minister  of  Munitions  and  the  Ministry  of 
Munitions  exist." 


226  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

gravely  restricted;  but  the  great  and  sufficient  reward 
for  such  a  sacrifice  to  every  patriotic  workman  always 
was  the  knowledge  that  brave  lives  were  being  saved 
and  brave  hearts  sustained  at  the  front.  Another  im- 
portant thing  was  that  the  country  was  being  saved 
also. 

Certainly  the  restrictions  were  very  formidable.  No 
workman  or  workwoman  could  leave  their  employment 
in  the  war  factory  without  a  special  "leaving  certifi- 
cate." All  rules  or  customs  restricting  labour  were 
suspended;  no  strikes  were  allowed;  and  all  questions 
of  wages  and  hours  were  to  be  settled  by  compulsory 
arbitration.  To  administer  these  rules  Munition  Tri- 
bunals were  set  up  in  every  district;  and  they  had 
powers  of  inflicting  heavy  fines.  Such  provisions  must 
depend  largely  on  the  good  faith  and  good-will  of  em- 
ployers; and  there  must  always  be  some  who  will  not 
"play  the  game."  Hence  the  chronic  movements  of  re- 
volt— the  rise  of  the  shop  stewards,  the  engineers' 
strike,  the  war-weariness  of  so  many  industrial  districts 
in  the  summer  of  1917. 

In  the  autumn  of  1917  Mr.  Winston  Churchill,  the 
new  Minister  of  Munitions,  found  it  possible  to  sus- 
pend the  leaving  certificate  and  to  slacken  some  of  these 
conditions.  But  there  could  be  no  doubt  as  to  their 
necessity  up  to  that  time. 

The  sole  and  sufficient  excuse  for  these  grave  restric- 
tions of  liberty  was  always  the  war,  and  the  war  alone. 
War  is  a  terrible  master;  and  wherever  he  raises  his 
head,  few  escape  his  tyranny.  All  that  can  be  said  is 
that,  with  all  their  troubles,  the  sufferings  of  the  men 
in  the  workshops  were  as  grains  in  the  balance  against 
the  sufferings  of  the  men  in  the  trenches. 


THE  NEW  MINISTRY  OF  MUNITIONS    227 

But,  even  so,  the  work  of  the  men  alone  was  not 
enough  to  meet  the  need.  Other  sources  of  labour 
must  be  tapped.  It  was  now  necessary  to  call  in  the 
women  to  the  aid  of  the  men. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  ventured  on  a  bold  appeal.  He 
asked  the  women  to  come  from  their  pleasures  and 
their  comforts ;  he  asked  them  to  save  the  lives  of  their 
brothers,  their  sweethearts,  and  their  husbands.  They 
came  in  multitudes.  They  filled  the  ranks,  and  they 
filled  the  shells.1  They  silenced  their  sourest  critics, 
even  in  their  own  sex.  They  worked  by  day  and  they 
worked  by  night.  They  earned  for  themselves  a  new 
position  in  the  State.  They  showed  that  women  could 
be  patriots  themselves,,  as  well  as  the  wives  and  moth- 
ers of  patriots.  Not  easily  will  England  forget  thosre 
splendid  women  of  1915-18. 

As  for  Mr.  Lloyd  George  himself,  he  worked  as 
hard  as  any  one  in  the  ranks  of  this  new  Labour  Army. 
He  was  here,  there,  and  everywhere.  All  through 
the  summer  of  1915  he  travelled  over  the  country, 
appealing,  stimulating,  and  even-  when  necessary  rebuk- 
ing. He  visited  all  the  industrial  centres.  He  spoke 
straight  to  the  English  working  classes;  and  it  was 
only  their  worst  friends  who  resented  his  honesty.  He 
told  them  to  suspend  their  peace  weaknesses  in  this  su- 
preme hour;  and  he  told  them:,  as  John  Stuart  Mill 
told  them  once  before,  where  their  chief  weakness  lay. 
He  set  up  a  Drink  Control  Board,  as  well  as  Munition. 
Tribunals ;  and  all  that  was  best  and  most  loyal  among 
the  artisans  acquiesced.  Qa  Ira;  the  plan  worked;  the 
machine  began  to  do  its  duty. 

*At  Woolwich  alone  the  number  of  women  workers  rose  from 
125  to  25,000. 


228  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Nothing  was  left  undone.  To  fill  up  the  ranks,  un- 
skilled men  were  trained  to  do  the  work  of  skilled. 
The  Board  of  Trade  organised  a  special  army  of 
Munition  Volunteers.  In  the  autumn  of  1915  there 
was  a  great  effort,  in  conjunction  with  the  War  Office, 
to  bring  back  from  the  front  some  thousands 1  of 
those  numerous  munition  workers,  iron-workers,  and 
miners  who  had  been  allowed  to  recruit  in  the  first 
fine  flush  of  the  recruiting  enthusiasm  in  1914. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  gave  his  whole  mind  to  this  one 
question — the  making  of  war  material.  He  had,  as  we 
have  seen, "found  the  Army  with  only  75,000  shells  in 
hand  in  June,  1915  ;  when  he  left  the  Ministry  in  June, 
1916,  he  had  provided  shells  in  millions.  He  himself 
mastered  the  technique  of  shell-making  and  gun-mak- 
ing; he  visited  the  factories  and  studied  the  machinery; 
he  listened  to  every  complaint  from  the  soldiers  at  the 
front;  he  investigated  every  defect. 

The  real  secret,  indeed,  of  his  work  was  that  he 
kept  in  touch  with  the  armies  at  the  Western  Front, 
constantly  visiting  them,  studying  their  needs  on  the 
spot,  listening  to  the  actual  fighting  men.  Above  all 
he  studied  the  German  inventions.  After  a  short  while, 
thanks  to  the  labours  of  our  young  scientists  from  the 
Universities,  he  was  able  to  provide  our  soldiers  with 
gas-masks  that  enabled  them  to  face  unshaken  the 
worst  deviltry  of  the  enemy,  and  with  gas  that  was  a 
fit  reply  to  theirs.  He  provided  our  men  with  flame- 
throwers which  made  them  a  fair  match  when  they 
faced  the  flame-throwers  of  the  Teuton. 


1 40,000  soldiers  were  brought  back.  In  addition,  there  are  38,000 
War  Munition  Volunteers,  and  30,000  Army  Reserve  Munition 
Workers.  (Dr.  Addison's  speech.) 


THE  NEW  MINISTRY  OP  MUNITIONS     229 

I  remember  his  taking  me,  one  day  in  1915,  to  see 
his  little  collection  of  these  horrible  devices  in  the 
basement  of  the  old  Metropole  Hotel.  He  showed  me 
the  model  shells,  mounting  by  slow  gradations  to  a 
giant's  height.  He  lingered  halfway  along  this  row 
of  shells.  He  put  his  hand  on  one.  "When  I  started 
the  Ministry,"  he  said,  "our  shells  went  only  as  high 
as  this.  The  German  shells  went  to  the  top  of  the 
range.  Was  that  fair  to  our  soldiers?"  It  was  a  vivid 
illustration  of  what  they  were  achieving. 

So  this  gigantic  new  organisation  was  built  up,  and 
gradually  brought  its  full  weight  into  the  struggle. 
Its  functions  were  constantly  enlarging.  By  proved  fit- 
ness to  rule  over  one  city  this  new  Ministry  soon 
achieved  the  right  to  rule  over  ten.  From  supplying  it 
took  to  making,  from  making  it  took  to  designing,  and 
to  designing  after  its  own  ideas.  The  great  net-work 
of  its  new  factories  gradually  spread  over  the  land. 
Greatly  daring,  it  built;  it  housed;  it  fed.  From  a  ser- 
vant it  became  a  master.  In  August,  1915,  it  took  over 
from  the  War  Office  the  Royal  Factory  at  Woolwich; 
and  so  it  became  the  supreme  war-maker  of  the  nation. 

Meanwhile,  the  soldiers  at  the  front  grew  more  con- 
fident and  serene.  They  felt  the  support  of  the  great 
working  nation  behind  them.  They  grew  more  con- 
fident of  supremacy.  They  knew  that  even  the  women- 
kind  were  "doing  their  bit."  In  each  great  battle,  as 
the  shells  swept  over  their  heads,  they  felt  a  new  power 
at  work  in  their  favour.1  They  "went  over  the  top" 

1  By  August  1916  the  high-explosive  shells  had  been  increased  by 
66  per  cent;  there  had  been  a  14-fold  increase  of  machine-guns;  and 
a  33-fold  increase  of  bombs.  Every  month  saw  as  many  great  guns 
manufactured  as  existed  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  (Mr.  Montagu, 
August  1916.) 


230  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

with  the  knowledge  that  the  mailed  fist  of  Prussia  was 
to  be  met  with  the  iron  hammer  of  England. 

To  this  new  feeling  and  the  confidence  born  of  it  we 
may  largely  attribute  the  great  victories  of  the  Somme, 
the  storming  of  the  Vimy  Ridge,  and  the  smashing 
onslaught  on  Messines. 

Many  Englishmen,  great  and  small,  have  a  right  to 
share  in  the  glory  of  this  great  work.  We  must  not 
forget  those  men  who,  before  the  great  central  crisis 
arose,  battled  alone  against  a  sea  of  errors  and  failings 
in  high  places — great  civil  servants  like  Sir  Hubert 
Llewellyn  Smith,  or  great  public  servants  like  Lord 
Moulton.  Such  men  do  not  labour  in  the  limelight. 
We  must  remember  their  services. 

Nor  must  we  forget  loyal  political  helpers  like  Dr. 
Addison,  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  first  lieutenant  at  the 
Ministry,  and  Mr.  Montagu,  his  successor. 

But,  when  all  is  said  and  done,  the  man  who  did 
the  deed  was  Mr.  Lloyd  George.  Without  his  resolu- 
tion and  decision  England  would  have  fared  badly  in 
that  dark  hour.  It  was  he  who  designed,  directed, 
and  completed  this  noble  and  stupendous  endeavour. 
It  was  he  who  carried  it  through.  It  was  he  who,  when 
others  failed,  armed  and  strengthened  our  armies.  It 
is  scarcely  too  much  to  say  that  it  was  he  who,  under 
Providence,  saved  England. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

PREMIERSHIP 

"Not  once  or  twice  in  our  rough  island-story, 
The  path  of  duty  was  the  way  to  glory." 

TENNYSON. 

THIS  great  revival  in  the  supply  of  munitions  to 
Great  Britain  and  her  Allies  began,  early  in  1916,  to 
show  its  effects  on  the  fortunes  of  the  war. 

There  were  some  things  that  could  not  be  retrieved 
— Serbia,  Bulgaria,  Kut.  On  the  Western  fields  of  war 
there  was  a  steady  stiffening,  and  the  1915  peril  of 
collapse  gradually  passed  away.  During  the  spring 
of  1916  guns  and  shells  were  accumulated  in  great 
masses  for  a  summer  attack. 

The  new  Military  Service  Act,  too,  now  began  to 
come  into  action ;  a  steady  supply  of  young  men  began 
to  fill  up  the  gaps  in  the  armies  at  the  front. 

What  could  be  done  by  men  and  munitions  was  be- 
ing done;  and  at  any  rate  it  was  no  longer  possible  for 
the  commanders  and  men  to  feel  that  they  were  not 
being  properly  supported  by  the  civilians  at  home. 

It  was  not  only  in  regard  to  the  British  armies  that 
this  great  uplift  of  power  took  place.  The  Russians, 
too,  now  found  themselves  being  supplied  with  streams 
of  guns  and  shells  from  Great  Britain;  and  Brusiloff 
began  to  prepare  for  his  great  thrust  forward. 

Thus  events  moved  forward  to  those  great  battles 

231 


232  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

of  July  and  August,  1916,  when,  by  sheer  force  of 
gun-power,  we  captured  positions  thought  to  be  im- 
pregnable, and  brought  about  the  dramatic  with- 
drawal of  the  German  armies  towards  the  French  fron- 
tiers in  the  spring  of  1917. 

But,  in  the  meantime,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  himself 
had  been  called  away  to  other  and  higher  tasks.  He 
is  one  of  those  men  whom  Nature  seems  to  have 
marked  out  as  pioneers;  and  there  seems  to  be  almost 
a  law  by  which,  when  such  men  have  accomplished  one 
great  task,  another  sphere  calls  for  them.  At  the 
Ministry  of  Munitions  he  had  now  done  his  work — 
that  work  of  starting,  inspiring,  and  organising  which 
is  peculiarly  his.  Other  men  could  now  take  up  the 
task  and  keep  it  going;  they  could  run  the  engine  once 
it  was  devised  and  set  running;  happily,  there  are  many 
such  men  in  the  world. 

It  was  fated  that  a  tragic  event  should  make  it  neces- 
sary that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  should  now  himself  move 
forward. 

On  June  5th,  1916,  Lord  Kitchener,  always  the  head 
and  forefront  of  England's  military  effort,  the  great 
Captain  of  those  legions  to  whom  he  gave  his  own 
name,  met  an  untimely  end  in  H.M.S.  Hampshire,  off 
the  western  coast  of  Scotland.  The  splendid  cruiser 
which  carried  his  fortunes  was  met  by  a  fierce  gale; 
but  his  mission  to  Russia  w^s  urgent,  and  he  was  not 
the  man  to  delay.  The  ship  altered  its  course  to  the 
lee  side  of  the  Shetland  Islands,  and  there  it  met  with 
a  mine  cast  adrift  by  the  storm,  and  quickly  foundered. 
Lord  Kitchener  was  last  seen  on  the  quarter-deck  meet- 
ins  death  as  calmly  as  he  had  faced  life. 


PREMIERSHIP  233 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  called  to  take  Lord  Kitchen- 
er's place,  and  passed  in  June,  1916,  from  the  Ministry 
of  Munitions  to  the  War  Office.  The  effect  of  this 
change  was  to  increase  his  power  of  control  over  the 
war,  and  at  the  same  time  t6  deepen  his  responsibility. 

He  did  not  stay  long  enough  in  the  War  Office  to 
obtain  complete  grip  of  the  administrative  machine,  or 
to  introduce  the  reforms  which  were  so  desirable  in  that 
office.  But  this  period  of  power  was  marked  by  some 
of  those  bold  and  sweeping  strokes  which  are  so  char- 
acteristic. In  the  autumn  of  1916,  on  one  of  his 
periodical  visits  to  the  Western  Front,  he  realised  that 
the  Army  was  on  the  eve  of  a  tragical  breakdown  of 
communications.  The  French  roads  were  becoming 
worn  out  with  the  strain  of  the  heavy  transport  traffic. 
We  had  not  enjoyed  that  immense  relief  from  the  struc- 
ture of  small  railways  which  was  common  to  our  Allies 
and  our  enemies.  He  also  grasped  the  fact  that  the 
fortunes  of  all  future  "offensives"  were  going  to  depend 
on  swift  and  decisive  concentrations  of  guns,  shells,  and 
men,  only  possible  by  means  of  railways.  The  rail- 
ways then  at  our  disposal  in  France  were  quite  insuf- 
ficient to  carry  the  burden  of  vast  armies  as  well  as  the 
local  life  of  the  countryside.  He  insisted,  against 
great  opposition,  both  from  officials  and  Press,  on  plac- 
ing the  railways  under  the  control  of  railway  men.  He 
persuaded  Sir  Douglas  Haig  to  make  Sir  Eric  Geddes 
a  General  at  Headquarters  in  charge  of  transporta- 
tion. Later  on,  Sir  Eric  Geddes  was  given  charge  of 
all  transportations  in  the  United  Kingdom,  as  well  as 
in  the  British  zone  in  France;  and  he  imposed  on  the 
British  civilian  population  those  restrictions  of  traffic 
which  have  been  so  cheerfully  borne.  All  this  made  a 


THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

huge  difference,  both  in  the  smooth  working  of  the 
army  machine  in  France,  and  in  the  organisation  of 
those  swift,  sudden  springs  forward  which  played  so 
great  a  part  in  the  final  victory. 

But  greater  events  were  soon  to  claim  his  attention. 

He  had  not  yet  obtained  full  grip  of  the  machinery 
at  the  War  Office  when  there  loomed  up  in  the  East 
another  of  those  great  tragedies  of  the  little  nations, 
which,  like  Stations  of  the  Cross,  marked  the  stages  of 
this  world-agony. 

Rumania  had  always  felt  strong  sympathy  with 
the  cause  of  the  Entente  Allies.  In  spite  of  various 
cross-currents,  the  tide  of  her  feelings  had  set  very 
steadily  towards  the  cause  of  the  Western  democracies. 
But  she  had  hitherto  been  restrained  by  a  very  wise 
prudence  from  rushing  into  a  struggle  with  powerful 
Empires  close  at  hand. 

But  now  fortune  seemed  to  be  swinging  over  to  the 
democracies.  The  Somme  and  Verdun  seemed  to  be 
the  obverse  and  the  reverse  sides  of  the  same  victorious 
shield.  The  Italians  were  moving  forward.  The  Rus- 
sians were  sanguine,  and  pressed  Rumania  for  her 
assistance. 

So  the  Rumanian  Government,  on  August  2yth,  took 
the  great  decision  and  declared  war  on  Austria. 

All  the  world  knows  the  episodes  in  that  tragic  story 
— the  premature  Rumanian  advance  into  Transylvania, 
the  sudden,  treacherous  attack  in  the  rear  from  Bul- 
garia— the  quick,  smashing  blows  of  the  gathered  Ger- 
man armies — the  passing  of  that  fearful  harrow  of  war 
over  that  beautiful,  romantic  land. 

No  one  saw  this  coming  cloud  more  rapidly  than  Mr. 
Lloyd  George.-  Early  in  September  he  read  through 


PREMIERSHIP  235 

the  designs  of  the  German  commanders.  With  his 
uncanny  eye  for  a  military  situation,  he  seemed  to  know 
what  Hindenburg  was  going  to  do  before  he  did  it. 
He  noticed  a  weakening  in  the  attack  on  Verdun.  He 
realised  in  a  moment  that  Bulgaria  would  not  be  mov- 
ing if  she  were  not  sure  of  German  help.  He  saw 
straight  into  the  heart  of  the  German  eastern  ambi- 
tions, and  he  realised  that  here  they  had  an  oppor- 
tunity which  on  no  account  would  they  pass  by. 

He  was  full  of  a  feverish  desire  to  avert  the  blow, 
even  at  the  eleventh  hour.  Could  not  anything  still 
be  done?  There  was  Italy — she  was  at  the  doors  of 
the  East — there  was  Russia.  Was  it  nothing  to  them 
who  passed  by — this  crucifixion  of  a  little  nation? 
There  was  always  something  especially  poignant  in  his 
emotions  over  these  tragedies.  He  was  not  a  man 
suited  to  the  part  of  sitting  by  and  doing  nothing. 

But  Rumania  was  already  beyond  the  reach  of  our 
help.  When  Serbia  was  lost,  Rumania  was  cut  off 
also  from  British  aid.  The  British  Fleet,  as  Lord 
Salisbury  once  shrewdly  remarked,  cannot  operate  in 
the  Balkans.  Russia,  the  only  possible  rescuer,  proved 
a  broken  reed.  She  was  already  paralysed  by  the  sleep- 
ing sickness  of  internal  treachery. 

So  Rumania  went  under.  But  the  event  had  a  rever- 
berating influence  on  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  mind.  It 
brought  him  to  a  decision  which  he  had  long  been 
meditating. 

He  could  no  longer  go  on  being  responsible  for  these 
repeated  failures  without  a  supreme  effort  to  make 
them  cease. 

He  had  for  a  long  time  past  gravely  doubted  whether 
he  would  not  be  more  capable  of  helping  in  the  con- 


236  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

duct  of  the  war  if  he  left  the  Government.  He  had 
often  Been  on  the  verge  of  resigning — on  munitions, 
on  conscription,  on  the  Serbian  failure.  He  had  a 
growing  conviction  that  the  only  hope  of  winning  the 
war  was  through  the  nation;  arid  he  wanted  to  guide 
and  to  inform  the  nation.  He  longed  to  be  "unmuz- 
zled"— to  speak  out  what  he  knew,  to  speak  for  him- 
self alone. 

But  it  had  always  happened  that  before  he  took 
action  his  policy  had  won;  and  then  it  became  prac- 
tically impossible  for  him  to  resign.  Ministers  cannot 
resign  on  delay  alone.  Yet  these  constant  delays  were 
piling  up  against  us  a  constantly  accumulating  debt.  Or, 
as  with  the  proud  Roman  and  the  ancient  Sibyl,  the 
reward  was  diminishing  while  the  price  was  not  less. 

The  Rumanian  disaster  brought  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
to  the  parting  of  the  ways.  He  must  either  reform  the 
Government  to  better  uses,  or  he  must  gain  his  free- 
dom— on  that  issue  he  was  clear. 

Reflecting  deeply  on  the  mode  and  method  of  re- 
form, he  saw  but  one  way  out — a  smaller  and  more 
efficient  body,  wholly  devoted  to  the  direction  of  the 
war.  That  had  been  his  view  for  a  long  time  past — • 
and  every  event  had  confirmed  it.  What  was  wanted 
was  unified,  unsleeping  control. 

He  decided  at  last  to  place  this  view  definitely  and 
decisively  before  Mr.  Asquith,  the  Prime  Minister. 

He  did  so  in  a  long  conversation  on  the  morning  of 
Friday,  December  ist,  1916. 

This  was  the  first  phase  in  a  crisis  into  which  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  entered  with  the  utmost  reluctance.  He 
was  sincerely  attached  to  Mr.  Asquith.  He  had  that 


PREMIERSHIP  237 

regard  for  him  which  is  often  based  on  an  entire  differ- 
ence of  temperament.  He  fully  recognised  the  great- 
ness of  those  qualities  which  have  given  Mr.  Asquith  so 
strong  a  hold  on  the  esteem  and  affections  of  his  coun- 
trymen. He  wished  to  continue  the  working  partner- 
ship. He  made  in  the  course  of  these  negotiations  every 
conceivable  suggestion  which  could  make  the  changed 
conditions  tolerable  to  the  proper  pride  and  self-respect 
of  a  man  who  had  deserved  so  well  of  the  nation. 

But  en  the  fundamental  necessity  for  a  change  in 
the  organisation  for  control  of  the  war,  he  remained 
throughout  as  firm  as  adamant.  There  could  be  no 
compromise  on  that  point.  There  are  certain  questions 
on  which  no  man  can  compromise.  One  is  the  safety 
and  honour  of  his  own  country. 

He  regarded  that  as  involved  in  his  proposal  to 
reform  the  machinery  of  war-control. 

He  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  a  smaller  and 
stronger  authority  was  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
prosperous  conduct  of  the  war.  He  also  held,  with 
equal  strength  of  conviction,  that  no  man  could  bear  at 
the  same  time  the  double  burden  of  parliamentary 
leadership  and  of  the  day-by-day  task  of  Chairmanship 
of  the  new  War  Council,  with  its  entirely  full  and  de- 
tailed responsibility  for  the  conduct  of  the  war.  Mr. 
Asquith  was  universally  acknowledged  as  the  supreme 
parliamentary  leader  of  his  generation.  He  was  a 
great  national  figure-head.  It  seemed  a  fair  and  rea- 
sonable proposal  that  he  should  continue  to  lead  the 
Commons  and  the  country,  and  should  allow  one  of 
his  colleagues  to  become  the  Chairman  of  the  new  War 
Authority.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  did  not  name  himself 
as  Chairman  of  that  body.  Mr.  Asquith  first  named 


238  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

him.  But  it  soon  became  quite  clear  to  both  that  he 
was  the  only  fit  and  proper  man  to  carry  out  his  own 
scheme. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George,  as  we  all  know,  laid  these  views 
in  writing  before  the  Prime  Minister,  and  discussed 
them  with  him  very  fully  during  the  two  following 
days.1  He  laid  them  in  memoranda  and  in  conversa- 
tions. As  the  talk  went  on  the  new  proposal  varied 
now  and  again  in  detail,  but  it  remained  always  the 
same  in  essence.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  never  disputed 
the  supreme  control  of  the  Prime  Minister:  he  even 
agreed  to  the  final  control  of  the  Cabinet — for  he  had 
not  yet  ventured  so  far  as  to  propose  a  supreme  War 
Cabinet. 

It  is  quite  clear  that  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  proposal 
startled  and  alarmed  Mr.  Asquith.  That  great  man 
is  above  all  things  a  constitutionalist;  profoundly  im- 
passioned for  the  traditions  of  English  freedom. 
Trained  up  in  parliamentary  habits,  it  seemed  abhor- 
rent to  him  that  any  function  of  supreme  control  in 
affairs  should  be  divorced  from  that  fount  and  centre 
of  power.  It  was  not  for  his  own  personal  position, 
we  may  be  sure,  that  he  resisted  Mr.  Lloyd  George's 
proposals.  They  clashed  with  all  that  was  deepest  in 
his  nature.  The  heir  and  successor  of  Pym,  Selden,  and 
Pitt  could  not  lightly  acquiesce  in  any  derogation  to 
the  authority  of  Parliament  or  Cabinet. 

What  Mr.  Asquith  did  not  see  was  that  new  needs 
call  for  new  measures;  and  that  the  needs  of  a  war 
such  as  this,  unprecedented  in  extent  and  violence,  may 
also  necessitate  remedies  without  precedent  on  the 
parchments  of  the  English  statute-books. 

1  See  the  correspondence  published  in  Appendix  B. 


PREMIERSHIP  239 

At  one  stage  Mr.  Asquith  appears  to  have  agreed 
with  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  and  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was 
for  some  time  (on  Saturday,  December  2nd)  under 
the  impression  that  the  matter  was  settled  on  the  gen- 
eral lines  of  his  policy.  He  did  not  fight  for  details. 
He  was  willing  to  discuss  the  membership  of  the  Com- 
mittee; but  he  remained  firm  on  the  principle.  He 
had  already  determined  to  resign  rather  than  fail  to 
carry  it  out.1  But  at  that  moment  there  seemed  no 
necessity  for  such  a  step. 

At  this  stage,  however,  there  stepped  into  the  arena 
those  busy  friends  who,  since  the  days  of  Job,  have 
never  been  a  man's  best  counsellors.  Energy  breeds 
•foes;  and  there  were  men  who  were  inclined  to  ask  the 
old  question:  "Who  is  this  man  that  he  should  rule 
over  us?"  These  men  held  up  the  'arms  of  Mr. 
Asquith  in  his  resistance  to  the  policy  laid  down  by  Mr. 
Lloyd  George. 

On  the  other  side  there  were  also  friends — friends 
of  the  Press,  certainly  not  inspired  by  any  amiable 
feelings  towards  Mr.  Asquith.  They  belonged  to  a 
section  which  had  always  stood  honestly  and  boldly 
for  a  more  active  prosecution  of  the  war.  It  was 
certainly  not  the  fault  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George  that  this 
Press  had  espoused  his  cause  in  all  his  great  efforts 
for  the  nation;  and  it  was  preposterous  to  expect  that 
he  should  reject  their  help.  A  member  of  a  Coalition 
Ministry  has  no  right  to  keep  up  old  party  prejudices 
in  his  dealings  with  the  Press;  and  it  has  always  been 
the  role  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George  to  be  accessible  to  the 
Press  on  both  sides.  It  had  happened,  indeed,  that 
only  a  few  weeks  before  Mr.  Lloyd  George  had  had 

1  He  had  taken  rooms  at  St.  James's  Court. 


240  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

a  sharp  passage  of  arms  with  Lord  Northcliffe  over  the 
question  of  communications  on  the  Western  Front;  and 
certainly  there  was  no  working  alliance  between  them. 
There  was  nothing  more  than  a  fortuitous  temporary 
agreement  in  regard  to  the  conduct  of  the  war. 

On  Monday,  December  4th,  there  appeared  in  the 
Times  an  article  giving  a  very  clear  and  accurate  sum- 
mary of  the  negotiations,  supported  by  a  "leader"  re- 
joicing over  the  discomfiture  of  Mr.  Asquith.1  It  is 
the  inveterate  habit  of  British  statesmen  to  listen  with 
sensitive  ears  to  the  oracles  from  Printing  House 
Square;  and  Mr.  Asquith  was  no  exception  to  this 
rule.  He  treated  this  blow  as  a  thunderbolt.  He  im- 
mediately, on  the  morning  of  Monday,  December  4th, 
wrote  to  Mr.  Lloyd  George  plainly  intimating  that 
if  this  was  to  be  the  sort  of  view  taken  of  his  agree- 
ment he  could  not  go  on. 

When  he  received  this  letter  Mr.  Lloyd  George  had 
not  seen  the  Times  article.  He  knew  nothing  about 
it.  He  certainly  did  not  inspire  it.  He  was  as  sur- 
prised as  Mr.  Asquith  when  he  read  it.  But  he  has 
always  taken  a  tolerant  view  as  to  the  acvities  of  a 
democratic  Press.  He  wrote  back  to  Mr.  Asquith  a 
friendly  letter  deprecating  any  attention  to  press  at- 
tacks of  which  he  had  himself  had  to  endure  so  many, 
and  strongly  urging  Mr.  Asquith  not  to  play  into  the 
hands  of  the  Times.  He — Mr.  Lloyd  George — 
wanted  an  agreement.  The  Times  did  not. 

But  it  was  too  late.  Mr.  Asquith's  friends  urged 
him  to  act  and  not  to  submit  to  what  seemed  to  him  a 
deliberate  attempt  to  destroy  his  personal  prestige. 

1  "The  conversion  has  been  swift,  but  Mr.  Asquith  has  never 
been  slow  to  note  political  tendencies  when  they  become  inevi- 
table."— Leading  article,  Times,  December  4th,  1916. 


PREMIERSHIP 

So  on  the  afternoon  he  resigned  and  ended  his  Govern- 
ment. He  acted  with  absolute  correctness.  He  re- 
ceived authority  from  the  King  at  once  to  form  a  new 
Government;  and  he  wrote  at  once  to  Mr.  Lloyd 
George.  He  could,  in  his  view,  start  now  afresh,  un- 
hampered by  the  negotiations  of  Saturday  and  Sunday. 

His  first  condition  was  that  he  himself,  as  Prime 
Minister,  must  be  Chairman  of  the  new  War  Com- 
mittee. 

The  former  plan  was  thus  now  definitely  rejected, 
and  a  clear  challenge  was  thrown  down  to  Mr.  Lloyd 
George — not  a  personal  challenge,  but  a  challenge  of 
principle.  For  Mr.  Asquith  sincerely  and  honestly 
held  that  his  was  the  proper  way  to  control  the  conduct 
of  the  war. 

It  was,  indeed,  now  for  Mr.  Lloyd  George  to  de- 
cide, not  whether  he  should  resign — for  he  was  no 
longer  Minister — but  whether  he  should  join  the  new 
Ministry  on  these  terms,  which  clashed  absolutely  with 
his  own  plans.  It  was  plainly  impossible  that  he  should 
do  so. 

So,  still  with  regret  but  always  quite  decisively,  on 
December  5th  he  placed  his  office  at  the  disposal  of 
Mr.  Asquith  in  the  formation  of  his  new  Ministry. 

He  parted  from  Mr.  Asquith  with  every  expression 
of  personal  regret,  and  offered  his  complete  support 
of  the  new  Government  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 

After  that  events  moved  rapidly.  On  the  Sunday 
(December  3rd)  the  Tory  rank  and  file  had  met  and 
decided  not  to  follow  Mr.  Lloyd  George.  But  Mr. 
Bonar  Law  made  it  clear  that  in  that  case  they  could 
not  count  on  his  leadership.  He  and  his  friends  in 
the  old  Ministry  refused  to  join  the  new  Ministry 


242  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

That  made  it  impossible  for  Mr.  Asquith  to  succeed. 

The  next  step  was  for  the  King  to  send  for  Mr. 
Bonar  Law.  But  the  old  Liberals,  the  Labour  Party, 
and  the  Irish  Nationalists  refused  to  serve  under  his 
Premiership.  He  did  not  possess  a  parliamentary  ma- 
jority. It  was  useless  for  Mr.  Bonar  Law  to  take  office 
with  a  minority  following  in  the  House  of  Commons. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George,  indeed,  urged  Mr.  Bonar  Law 
to  make  the  attempt,  and  offered  to  serve  under  him. 

The  King,  with  a  splendid  desire  for  reconciliation, 
called  a  conference  at  Buckingham  Palace,  and  tried 
to  form  a  new  Coalition  Ministry  of  all  parties  under 
Mr.  Bonar  Law.  But  the  thing  was  impossible. 
Asquith  and  his  friends  stood  out;  Mr.  Asquith  refused 
the  Woolsack.  He  was  contending  for  what  seemed  to 
him  a  definite  issue  of  parliamentary  control,  and  we  can 
scarcely  blame  him  for  refusing  to  be  spirited  off  the 
arena  of  political  conflict,  or  relegated  to  a  gilded  cage. 

It  only  remained  for  the  King  to  send  for  Mr. 
Lloyd  George,  for  he  was  now  the  only  possible  Pre- 
mier. It  was  clearly  his  duty  to  accept  the  call.  It 
was  not  easy  for  him  to  form  a  Ministry.  The  rank 
and  file  of  the  Tories,  still  shadowed  by  Budget  memo- 
ries, shrank  at  first  from  the  idea  of  serving  under 
so  fervent  a  Radical;  but  Mr.  Bonar  Law  was  de- 
termined to  submit  all  political  divisions  to  the  supreme 
issue  of  the  war;  and  most  of  the  powerful  men  of 
the  party  followed  his  patriotic  lead.  Many  of  the  lead- 
ing Liberal  ex-Ministers  plainly  intimated,  through  va- 
rious channels,  public  and  private,  that  they  were 
anxious  to  stand  aside  1 ;  but  most  of  the  capable  young 

1  Mr.  Herbert  Samuel  was  offered  office,  and  refused.    Mr.  Montagu 
finally  joined  as  Secretary  for  Ireland. 


PREMIERSHIP  243 

men  willingly  came  along,  recognising  that  at  this  crisis 
there  was  a  greater  thing  involved  than  personal 
loyalty.  The  Labour  Party  at  first  stood  aloof.  There 
were  long  conferences  at  the  War  Office.  But  at  last 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  won  them  over  by  large  and  frank 
concessions  both  in  policy  and  share  of  office. 

Such  is  a  simple  narrative  of  the  events  which  made 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  Premier.  Of  course  there  were 
mean  and  unworthy  insinuations — of  course  there  were 
men  who  saw,  in  this  great  and  dramatic  clash  of 
ideas,  nothing  but  the  mean  and  sordid  conflict  of  per- 
sonal ambitions,  or  the  still  more  squalid  combat  of 
rival  journals.  There  will  always  be  men  with  their 
eyes  fixed  on  the  ground  when  great  signs  are  appearing 
in  the  heavens. 

But  to  those  who  have  followed  this  story  the  event 
will  seem  to  be  inevitable.  At  the  given  moment  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  took  the  post  of  leadership,  but  he 
only  took  that  post  because  for  at  least  a  year  he  had 
already  been  the  leader.  Great  wars  always  have 
electric  effects.  For  the  ruling  of  such  thunder-storms 
there  is  required  a  certain  temperament  of  storm.  The 
plain  fact  is  that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  possessed  that 
temperament — and  sooner  or  later  he  must  have  been 
called  to  direct  the  thunderbolts. 

When  he  really  had  the  power  to  shape  the  machine 
of  war  after  his  own  ideas,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  put 
aside  half-measures.  He  boldly  shaped  a  new  instru- 
ment of  Government — the  War  Cabinet  as  we  after- 
wards knew  it.  That  Cabinet  was  a  small  body  of 
experienced  administrators,  united  by  the  one  tie  of 
zeal  for  their  country,  who  gave  their  whole  energies 


244  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

entirely  to  the  conduct  of  the  war.  Except  for  brief 
holidays,  they  sat  daily,  and  sometimes  twice  a  day. 
Minutes  were  kept  of  their  proceedings,  although  their 
speeches  were  not  reported.  When  any  Department 
was  concerned,  the  Minister  affected  attended  himself, 
and  took  part  in  the  consultations.  Thus  the  Foreign 
Minister  was  there  when  there  was  a  discussion  of  for- 
eign affairs,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  on  finance, 
and  so  on.  The  result  was  that  the  departmental 
chiefs  were  more  free  for  their  own  administrative 
work,  and  less  worried  with  the  problems  of  other  De- 
partments. On  the  other  hand,  there  grew  up  a  new 
Civil  Service  attached  to  the  War  Cabinet,  and  a 
more  active  machinery  for  keeping  the  offices  in  touch. 

It  was  confessedly  a  great  experiment — but  experi- 
ments are  necessary  for  war.  It  was  certain  that  that 
other  instrument,  the  old  Cabinet — already  showing 
signs  of  weakness  in  days  of  peace — had  broken  down 
in  war;  for  every  revelation,  from  the  Dardanelles  to 
Mesopotamia,  spoke  eloquently  of  the  failure,  not  so 
much  of  the  men,  as  of  that  machine.  It  met  too 
rarely;  its  proceedings  were  too  cumbrous;  there  was 
a  lack^of  concentration;  there  was  a  constant  scattering 
and  diversion  of  energies. 

There  is  no  room  here  for  vain  regrets  over  the  past. 
There  is  no  space  left  for  old  party  feuds — and  cer- 
tainly not  for  personal  issues.  Both  of  these  men  are 
great,  distinguished  figures,  divided  only  by  small 
shadows  of  honest  difference.  Those  shadows  will 
pass;  in  the  light  of  greater  events  they  will  appear 
trifles;  and  the  common  need  will  knit  us  together. 
The  resolution  for  unity  must  prevail. 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE   SAVING   OF   ITALY 

"Many  hot  inroads 
They  make  into  Italy." 

Antony  and  Cleopatra,  Act  I,  Sc.  iv. 

AT  the  opening  of  the  year  1917  the  general  situa- 
tion -of  the  World-war  in  Europe  offered  fair  promise 
for  the  cause  of  the  Entente  Allies.  On  the  Western 
front  the  immense  latent  resources  of  the  British  Em- 
pire were  now  coming  effectively  into  play  and  were 
creating  an  opportunity  for  a  really  serious  and  formi- 
dable offensive.  Tremendously  reinforced  in  men  and 
munitions  through  the  powers  of  the  Munitions  and 
Military  Service  Acts,  our  gigantic  armies  inspired 
every  observer  with  immeasurable  hopes  of  victory. 
The  soldiers  themselves  were  full  of  that  and  fresh 
sanguine  spirit  in  which  the  valour  of  the  British  race 
has  always  expressed  itself.  France  was  now  recover- 
ing from  the  grievous  losses  of  men  endured  in  the  first 
two  years  of  the  war;  and  the  new  Generals,  men  of 
the  younger  school  like  Nivelle  and  Petain,  were  look- 
ing forward  with  no  less  confidence  than  ourselves  to 
the  .results  of  a  new  Western  aggressive  on  a  larger 
and  more  effective  scale. 

But  the  Western  front  was  only  a  portion  of  that 
far-flung  line  of  embattled  hosts  who  were  holding  back 
the  great  Teutonic  armies  from  desolating  the  fairest 

245 


246  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

regions  of  Western  and  Southern  Europe.  Far  away 
across  the  snowy  barriers  of  the  Alps  and  beyond  the 
interval  of  neutral  Switzerland  the  Italian  armies  lay  in 
caves  and  trenches  stretched  from  the  eastern  frontier 
of  the  Swiss  Canton  Ticino  right  across  the  eastern 
Alps  down  to  the  shores  of  the  Adriatic  Sea.  On  the 
west  of  this  hazardous  line  the  Italians  still  held  the 
Austrian  armies  to  the  edges  of  the  main  Alpine  ridge. 
On  the  east  they  had  pressed  them  in  a  series  of  heroic 
onslaughts  through  the  mountains  and  across  the  deep 
valley  'of  the  rushing  Isonzo.  They  had  captured  the 
high  and  coveted  city  of  Gorizia,  and  they  were  threat- 
ening the  suburbs  of  Trieste.  They  seemed  on  the 
eve  of  momentous  conquests.  But  the  very  achieve- 
ments of  their  heroic  valour,  so  splendid  to  the  outward 
eye,  concealed  a  perilous  and  precarious  military 
position. 

"No  one,"  said  Mr.  Lloyd  George  later  on  at  Paris, 
"can  look  at  these  frontier  mountains  without  a  thrill 
of  respect  for  the  gallantry  that  has  stormed  them  in 
face  of  the  entrenched  legions  of  Austria."  Certainly 
no  one  who,  like  the  present  writer,  has  escaladed  those 
peaks  in  days  of  peace.  There  are  no  greater  episodes 
in  this  war  than  those  of  that  titanic,  gigantesque  con- 
flict amid  the  mighty  jagged  precipices  and  the  deep 
gloomy  abysses  of  the  Eastern  Alps.1 

But  the  greater  the  effort,  the  greater  the  exhaustion. 
It  is  written  large  in  letters  of  fire  and  blood  across  the 
history  of  the  World-war  that  any  excess  of  human 
loss  is  in  itself  one  of  the  gravest  of  military  perils. 
Italy  poured  out  her  blood  without  stint.  Alone  among 

1  Signer  Philippe  Philippi  has  brought  from  this  phase  of  the  war 
a  wonderful  photographic  record  which  will  make  its  glories  lasting. 


THE  SAVING  OF  ITALY  247 

the  Allied  nations  she  possessed  one  organised  party—- 
the official  Socialists — genuinely  opposed  to  the  war. 
Taking  advantage  of  this  weakness,  the  Germans  had 
made  a  special  effort  to  weaken  her  home  front.  The 
great  industrial  centres  of  the  north  of  Italy — Turin 
and  Milan — had  been  the  objective  of  perhaps  the  most 
sustained  effort  of  German  peace  propaganda.  The 
missionaries  of  this  strange  crusade  had  crossed  the 
Alps  by  every  mountain  path  and  had  mixed  them- 
selves among  the  armies,  scattering  their  poisoned 
leaflets  among  the  tired  troops.  Thus  every  prepara- 
tion had  been  made  for  an  easier  assault.  Like  Hanni- 
bal when  he  crossed  the  Alps  in  a  greater  campaign, 
they  had  melted  the  rocks  with  vinegar. 

The  military  position,  indeed,  was  not  so  strong  as 
it  looked.  The  right  wing  of  the  Italian  army  was 
lunging  forward  victoriously,  while  the  centre  and  left 
were  still  entangled  in  the  mountains.  These  things 
were  not  clear  to  observers  in  the  west  of  Europe; 
but  there  were  English  visitors' with  the  Italian  armies 
who  became  uneasily  aware  of  them. 

In  the  absence  o*f  any  unified  control  it  was  impossible 
to  take  any  effective  steps  to  avert  the  coming  danger. 
The  British  military  chiefs  bad  their  views  about  the 
position  of  the  Italian  army;  many  Italians  themselves 
had  their  views.  But  though  these  views  were  platoni- 
cally  interchanged  there  was  no  machinery  by  which 
they  could  be  compared  and  collated,  or  produce  any 
real  effect  on  the  course  of  the  campaign.  In  other 
words,  there  was  no  central  power  of  vision  or  action — 
no  active  organism  that  was  responsible  for  the  war  as 
a  whole,  right  from  the  North  Sea  to  the  Adriatic.  As 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  afterwards  pointed  out  in  the  House 


248  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

of  Commons,  "there  was  a  sort  of  feeling  that  that 
front  was  not  our  business."  1 

This  did  not,  indeed,  prevent  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
from  using  such  opportunities  as  presented  themselves 
for  urging  his  views.  In  January  of  that  year  (1917) 
there  was  an  important  Conference  at  Rome  between 
the  Allied  Premiers  and  Generals;  and  at  that  Confer- 
ence the  whole  European  situation  was  surveyed  in  one 
of  the  most  candid  and  exhaustive  discussions  that  had 
taken  place  up  to  that  time.  These  conversations  ex- 
tended over  the  whole  ground,  from  the  political  rela- 
tions between  Italy  and  her  neighbouring  Allies  to 
the  question  of  the  proper  strategy  for  the  Italian  fron- 
tier. Mr.  Lloyd  George  boldly  placed  before  that  Con- 
ference his  own  views  as  to  the  proper  campaign  to  be 
adopted  in  the  war  between  Italy  and  Austria.  He 
pointed  out  the  grave  dangers  to  which  Italy  was  ex- 
posed; and  his  own  characteristic  remedy  was  a  rein- 
forced aggressive  across  the  Eastern  Alps  into  the 
plains  of  Austria.  .  That  proposal  afterwards  tenta- 
tively put  forward  in  his  Paris  speech  received  much 
foolish  ridicule  from  English  critics.  If  those  critics 
would  follow  the  advice  of  the  late  Lord  Salisbury, 
and  study  large  maps,  they  would  observe  that  the  most 
vulnerable  flank  of  the  Central  Powers  was  to  be  found 
precisely  through  that  very  Alpine  door  north  of 
Trieste  round  which  the  battle  was  then  raging.  While 
Berlin  is  remote  from  the  Teutonic  frontiers,  Vienna 
is  dangerously  exposed  to  attack  from  the  south  and 
east,  and  every  student  of  European  wars  knows  that 

1  November  2oth,  1917.  In  the  same  speech  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
delicately  expressed  the  fact  that  we  were  aware  of  the  Italian 
peril  but  unable  to  find  any  effective  expression  for  our  views. 


THE  SAVING  OF  ITALY 

the  great  captains  of  war,  like  Napoleon,  have  always 
availed  themselves  of  that  fact. 

This  proposal  was  a  revival  in  a  more  modest  form 
of  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  earlier  scheme  for  seeking  a, 
military  decision  on  the  Eastern  front;  and  subse- 
quently in  his  Paris  speech  he  stoutly  maintained  that 
if  there  had  been  in  January  1917  a  proper  unified 
machinery  for  military  debate  and  execution  the  his- 
tory of  that  year  (1917)  might  have  been  different.1 

But  at  that  time  both  the  Premiers  of  the  Allied  na- 
tions and  the  Generals  of  the  Allied  armies  were  fight- 
ing the  war  in  water-tight  compartments.  It  was  not 
yet  realised  that  the  Italian  front  was  actually  a  back 
door  to  the  West.  It  required  more  startling  events  to 
convince  the  Allies  that  if  either  side  broke  through 
the  line  at  any  point,  East  or  West,  the  whole  line 
would  be  in  peril.  Until  those  events  occurred  there 
was  not  enough  political  or  military  driving  power  be- 
hind any  proposal  for  unified  control. 

So  throughout  those  months  from  August  to  October 
1917  the  military  control  was  practically  left  to  each 
set  of  military  chiefs  in  his  own  section  of  the  war. 
The  communications  and  consultations  between  them 
were  casual  and  uncertain;  and  naturally  each  set 
played  for  their  own  hand.  For,  other  things  being 
equal,  the  first  duty  of  a  soldier  is  the  care  of  his  own 
army.  In  our  country  it  seemed  the  wisest  course  for 
the  War  Cabinet  to  leave  all  important  military  de- 

*"I  should  like  to  be  able  to  read  to  you  the  statement  submitted 
to  the  Conference  in  Rome  in  January  (1917)  about  the  perils  and 
possibilities  of  the  Italian  front  this  year,  so  that  you  might  judge 
it  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events.  I  feel  confident  that  nothing 
could  more  convincingly  demonstrate  the  opportunities  which  the 
Allies  have  lost  through  lack  of  combined  thought  and  action"  (No- 
vember i2th,  1917). 


250  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

cisions  to  the  military  chiefs.  The  previous  Govern- 
ment, indeed,  had  fortified  the  Generals  with  an  Order 
in  Council  which  practically  gave  them  strategic  con- 
trol. It  was  considered  best  for  the  time  being  to 
fall  in  with  that  arrangement.  There  was,  indeed,  no 
alternative.  "Never,"  as  Mr.  Lloyd  George  said 
afterwards  in  the  House  of  Commons,  "never  in  the 
whole  history  of  war  in  this  country  have  soldiers  got 
more  consistent  and  more  substantial  backing  from 
politicians  than  they  have  had  this  year  (1917).  .  .  . 
No  soldiers  in  any  war  have  had  their  strategical  dis- 
positions less  interfered  with  by  politicians.  There  has 
not  been  a  single  battalion,  or  a  single  gun,  moved 
this  year  except  with  the  advice  of  the  General  Staff 
— not  one.  There  has  not  been  a  single  attack  ordered 
in  any  part  of  the  battlefield  by  British  troops  except  on 
the  advice  of  the  General  Staff — not  one.  There  has 
not  been  a  single  attack  not  ordered.  The  whole  cam- 
paign of  the  year  has  been  the  result  of  the  advice  of 
soldiers." 

If  the  sole  control  of  war  by  military  authority  was 
to  be  put  to  a  decisive  test,  the  campaign  of  1917 
supplied  a  crucial  instance. 

The  vital  need  revealed  by  that  test  on  the  East- 
ern front  was  unity  of  control.  But  the  same  need  was 
even  earlier  revealed  on  the  West  also. 

There  the  year  opened  with  smiling  auspices.  The 
retreat  of  the  Germans  from  the  Somme  Valley  and 
the  final  abandonment  of  the  Verdun  attack  seemed 
to  give  the  greatest  hope  for  a  successful  Allied  move 
forward  against  the  foe.  As  at  Waterloo,  the  moment 
seemed  to  have  come  to  cry  "Up  Guards  and  at  them !" 
Nor  can  it  be  said  that  there  was  any  hesitation  or  lack 


THE  SAVING  OF  ITALY  251 

of  utmost  heroism  in  the  attack  when  it  was  delivered. 
On  the  contrary  those  attacks  of  1917  displayed  British 
and  French  valour  at  their  highest  point.  But  the  want 
of  co-operative  effort  and  unified  control  led  to  a  great 
reduction  of  war  profits  in  the  final  balance-sheet  of  the 
year's  efforts. 

Sir  Douglas  Haig  has  frankly  taken  the  world  into 
his  confidence  as  to  the  incidents  of  divided  counsel. 
In  his  published  despatches  on  those  great  events  he 
has  spoken  freely.  Sir  Douglas  Haig  himself,  a  dis- 
creet and  moderate  man,  had  entertained  the  highest 
hopes,  and  had  even  gone  so  far  as  to  express  them 
through  public  channels.  He  was  sanguine  of  a  com- 
plete break-through.  General  Nivelle,  the  French 
Commander-in-Chief,  was  almost  equally  hopeful.  It 
is  no  small  gain  to  great  armies  when  their  chieftains 
start  out  with  such  high  expectations. 

Whether  those  expectations  would  have  been  ful- 
filled if  the  efforts  of  the  British  and  French  armies  had 
been  backed  by  unified  control  it  is  now  impossible  to 
say.  But  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  want  of  unity  placed 
every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  victory.  There  were,  in- 
deed, shadows  of  control — scattered,  intermittent  ef- 
forts to  bring  the  great  armies  into  some  form  of  com- 
bined action.  But  these  efforts  lacked  authority  or 
decision.  There  was  a  military  conference  of  Allied 
Generals  at  the  end  of  1916;  there  was  even  an  agree- 
ment to  make  a  combined  attack  in  Flanders.  But 
the  decisions  of  that  conference  do  not  seem  to  have 
carried  with  them  any  permanent  effect  on  the  Allied 
war  councils.  Probably  the  swift  movement  of  events 
made  a  mockery  of  such  long-laid  schemes.  At  any 
rate,  we  have  the  fact  that  General  Nivelle  made  a 


252  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

separate  attack  in  Champagne  in  the  spring  of  the 
year,  with  the  result  that  our  armies  had  to  delay  their 
advance  until  that  great  effort  was  brought  to  a  de- 
cision. 

General  Nivelle  aimed  at  a  great  mark.  He,  too, 
aspired  to  break  the  German  lines.  He  succeeded  in 
part,  but  at  a  cost  of  life  too  great  for  France  at  that 
moment.  General  Nivelle  had  to  pay  the  price.  He 
ceased  to  be  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  French  armies. 
His  place  was  taken  by  General  Petain,  with  the  un- 
derstanding that  he  should  adopt  a  less  aggressive 
policy.  The  result  was  that  the  British  attack  was  de- 
layed, and  when  it  took  place  was  undertaken  alone.  It 
achieved  great  objects,  but  not  so  great  as  had  been 
hoped.  The  August  fighting  round  Lens — the  Septem- 
ber onslaughts  of  Haig's  armies  east  and  north  of 
Ypres,  the  assault  of  Passchendaele — all  these  battles 
displayed  the  valour  of  British,  Canadian,  and  Austra- 
lian troops  at  their  highest  point. 

But  there  was  no  break-through.  At  the  critical  mo- 
ment the  British  armies  were  checked  by  the  mud  and 
rain  of  the  Flanders  autumn.  Heroism  was  literally 
choked  in  slime.  The  cold  and  gloom  of  winter  de- 
scended on  those  splendid  British  stormers  before  their 
great  task  could  be  achieved. 

Such  were  the  fruits  of  divided  control. 

It  was  fated  that  there  should  blaze  out  a  sign  in 
the  heavens  even  more  startlingly  blood-red  before 
the  forces  of  national  and  army  particularism  could 
be  safely  and  successfully  defied. 

On  October  24th  (1917)  the  Italian  eastern  front 
was  suddenly  shaken  by  a  hammer-blow  from  the  Ger- 
man central  command.  A  new  army  under  the  redoubt- 


THE  SAVING  OF  ITALY  253 

able  Mackensen,  secretly  assembled  behind  the  screen 
of  the  mountain  ridges,  took  over  the  attack  from  the 
nerveless  Austrians.1  This  German  force  made  a  sud- 
den assault  under  cover  of  mist  against  a  weak  point  in 
the  Italian  line.  They  attacked  and  penetrated  the 
Second  Italian  Army  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Tolmino 
on  the  Upper  Isonzo.  Only  one  Italian  regiment  gave 
way,  probably  weakened  by  enemy  influences.  But  at 
such  a  critical  point  one  was  enough.  It  was  like  a 
small  hole  in  a  great  dyke.  The  flood  of  German  inva- 
sion swept  in,  and  soon  began  to  submerge  the  plain  of 
Venetia.  During  the  following  week  the  Austro-Ger- 
man  armies  advanced  by  forced  marches  from  the 
north-east  and  captured  Cividale  and  Udine.  The 
heroic  Third  Italian  Army,  conquerors  of  Gorizia,  held 
on  to  the  line  of  the  Isonzo  for  a  time.  But  they  were 
taken  in  the  rear,  and  it  was  necessary  to  command  a 
retreat.  Those  brave  regiments — the  Alpini  and  the 
Bersaglieri — suddenly  fell  back,  many  of  them  pre- 
ferring annihilation  to  retirement.  The  whole  host 
rallied  on  the  line  of  the  Tagliamento;  but  in  the  terri- 
ble confusion  of  the  great  surprise  the  Italians  lost 
300,000  men  and  2,000  guns. 

Italy  was  now  faced  with  a  fearful  peril.  It  was 
already  clear  that  the  line  of  the  Tagliamento  could 
not  be  held;  it  was  uncertain  whether  any  other  line 
could  be  held.  For  if  the  Germans  and  Austrians  could 
attain  mastery  of  the  Alps  to  the  north  every  one  of 
those  river  lines  of  Venetia  would  be  outflanked;  the 
whole  northern  plain  of  Italy  would  be  invaded;  the 
exquisite  prize  of  Venice  and  the  great  industrial  cities 

1  Ludendorff's  War  Memories,  Vol.  II,  pp.  497-99.     He  reveals  that 
the  attack  was  undertaken  to  prevent  the  collapse  of  Austria  Hungary. 


254  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

of  Turin  and  Milan  would  fall  as  victims  to  the  spear 
of  the  enemy.  Southern  Italy  would  be  cut  off  from 
the  Western  Allies;  and,  indeed,  the  whole  peninsula 
would  be  in  danger,  and  with  it  our  own  naval  hold 
on  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  None  of  the  Western 
Allies  could  be  indifferent  to  the  threat  of  such 
calamities. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  determined  in  a  moment  that 
Britain  could  not  stand  by  indifferent.  He  resolved  at 
once  that  he  would  not  be  responsible  for  a  repetition  of 
the  calamities  which  had  overwhelmed  Serbia  and 
Rumania.  The  year  1917  should  not  close  as  1915 
and  1916  had  closed — with  the  head  of  a  kingdom  on 
a  charger  presented  to  the  German  Herod. 

But  it  was  necessary  to  act  instantly.  There  was  not 
a  moment  to  be  lost.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  decided  to 
go  to  Italy;  and  he  resolved  to  go  armed  with  new 
powers  of  central  control  for  the  conduct  of  the  war. 
He  had  made  up  his  mind  that  it  was  at  last  necessary 
to  relieve  the  Generals  of  their  divided  responsibilities 
by  establishing  a  definite  organism  of  central  control. 

Before  starting  for  Italy  he  prepared  and  passed 
through  the  British  Cabinet  a  document  drawing  up  in 
a  series  of  resolutions  the  constitution  of  a  new  cen- 
tral council  for  the  conduct  of  the  war.  With  that  in 
his  pocket  he  started  to  meet  the  Allied  Premiers  and 
Generals  at  the  little  seaside  town  of  Rapallo,  a  gem 
to  the  east  of  Genoa  on  the  Italian  Riviera. 

At  that  meeting  he  passed  the  resolutions  contained 
in  that  document  almost  without  an  alteration,  so  ready 
were  the  French  and  Italians  now  to  consent  to  any 


THE  SAVING  OF  ITALY  855 

scheme  for  increasing  the  power  of  central  decision.1 

That  was  the  first  step  in  setting  up  the  Versailles 
Council. 

From  Rapallo  Mr.  Lloyd  George  proceeded  to 
Turin  and  Milan,  everywhere  encouraging  the  Italians 
and  promising  them  speedy  aid.  He  went  as  far  as 
Peschiera,  where  he  met  the  young  Italian  King,  whose 
heroic  devotion  to  his  armies  has  rightly  earned  him 
the  fervent  love  of  true  Italy.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  dis- 
cussed fully  with  him  all  the  details  of  the  assistance 
that  should  be  sent.  Then  with  all  speed  he  proceeded 
to  organise  and  expedite  the  arrival  of  British  and 
French  reinforcements.  Within  a  few  days  French 
and  British  infantry  and  artillery  were  speeding 
through  the  Monte  Cenis  tunnel  to  Italy. 

For  the  moment,  indeed,  there  was  no  need  to  bring 
the  new  powers  of  the  Rapallo  Conference  into  force. 
It  was,  at  any  rate,  clear  to  every  mind  at  this  crisis 
that  the  whole  front  was  one.  It  was  apparent  to  any 
one  who  glanced  at  the  map  of  Europe  that  the  con- 
quest of  Italy  by  Germany  would  shake  the  whole 
Allied  combination.  It  was  obvious  to  the  French,  at 
any  rate,  that  it  might  bring  Germany  to  the  back 
door  of  France. 

Faced  with  such  possibilities,  British  and  French 
Generals  vied  with  one  another  in  helping  Italy.  What 
divisions  could  be  spared  from  the  Western  front  were 
spared.  The  young  men  of  Western  Europe  marched 
through  the  vineyards  and  maize-fields  of  those  beauti- 

1<(In  substance  it  was  the  document  prepared  here,  discussed  line 
by  line  in  the  Cabinet,  and  which  I  had  in  my  pocket  after  the  last 
Cabinet  meeting  which  was  held  a  few  hours  before  I  left"  (No- 
vember aoth,  1917.  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  speech  in  the  House  of 
Commons). 


256  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

ful  plains  of  Northern  Italy  in  the  waning  autumn  to 
the  help  of  the  Italian  armies  now  pressed  back  to 
the  Piave.  The  coming  of  this  help  put  new  heart 
into  the  Italians.  As  our  British  boys  advanced 
through  the  little  white  villages  between  Milan  and 
the  front  they  were  greeted  as  crusaders.  They  were 
met  by  cascades  of  flowers  from  the  joyful  villagers, 
now  recovering  from  the  terror  of  a  cruel  invasion. 
For  it  was  known  by  the  Italians  that  the  Germans  were 
sending  even  Turkish  and  Bulgarian  soldiery  to  the 
invasion  of  the  fair  Italian  provinces. 

So  sustained  and  fortified — with  such  a  sense '  of 
comradeship  behind  and  beside  them — the  Italian  regi- 
ments rallied.  Along  the  line  of  the  Piave  they  put 
up  that  splendid  resistance  which  redeemed  the  name 
of  Italy  and  inspired  their  people  with  a  new  strength 
and  unity.  To  the  north,  among  the  mountains,  they 
were  helped  by  French  and  English  battalions,  thus 
forging  between  the  peoples  of  Italy  and  Western 
Europe  new  links  imperishable  and  without  price. 

Certainly  so  far  the  principle  of  unified  control  was 
justified  by  its  results. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  VERSAILLES"  COUNCIL 

"Besides,  he  says,  there  are  two  councils  held; 
And  that  may  be  determined  at  the  one 
Which  may  make  him  and  you  to  rue  at  the  other." 

SHAKESPEARE'S  Richard  III,  Act  III,  Sc.  ii. 

ITALY  was  saved  for  the  time;  but  if  it  was  to  be 
saved  for  all  time,  and  if  other  dangers  were  to  be 
averted,  it  was  not  enough  to  pass  resolutions  at 
Allied  Conferences.  The  proceedings  at  Rapallo  must 
be  followed  up  by  more  effective  action. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  has  always  the  instinct  in  his 
heart  that  no  public  purpose  can  be  thoroughly 
achieved  without  the  help  of  the  peoples  concerned. 
He  is  above  all  things  a  "crowd-compeller."  It  was 
now  his  imperious  instinct  that  he  should  appeal  from 
a  secret  conference  to  the  great  peoples  of  Western 
Europe.  It  was  his  powerful  conviction  that  he  must 
take  them  into  his  counsel  as  to  the  reasons  for  a  new 
centralisation  of  war  control — in  short,  that  he  must 
appeal  over  the  heads  of  the  Governments  to  the 
nations-. 

If  the  new  Versailles  Council  was  to  be  anything 
more  than  an  Aulic  assembly,  forcibly-feeble,  strenu- 
ously impotent,  it  was  necessary  to  rally  behind  it  all 
the  great  democratic  forces  of  the  Western  world.  It 
was  urgent  to  give  it  a  new  authority  derived  directly 

257 


258  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

from  the  peoples.  If  this  was  to  be  achieved  the 
peoples  must  be  given  a  franker  explanation  of  the 
strategy  of  the  war,  of  the  reasons  for  failure,  and  the 
motives  for  a  new  policy. 

These  are  the  reasons  why,  quite  deliberately,  on 
the  way  home  from  Rapallo,  on  November  I2th,  1917, 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  made  that  remarkable  speech  at 
Paris  which  was  perhaps  the  frankest  utterance  of  the 
war.1 

This  Paris  speech  fluttered  all  the  dovecots  of 
Europe,  and  some  of  the  eagles'  nests  as  well.  It 
seemed  to  come  as  a  caprice,  a  child  of  sudden  impulse, 
from  the  brain  of  the  British  Premier.  And  yet  the 
speech  was  most  carefully  prepared;  a  copy  of  it  was 
sent  to  the  War  Cabinet  in  time  for  correction  in  case 
of  need;  it  was  handed  over  for  interpretation  before 
being  uttered.2 

There  was  nothing  sudden  about  it.  For  the  speech 
represented  the  slowly  matured  results  of  two  years  of 
observation,  the  fruits  of  prolonged  meditation  on  the 
events  of  the  war. 

The  step  towards  unity  which  was  the  central  point 
of  the  speech  represented  his  profoundest  conviction 
on  the  strategy  of  the  war. 


1  See  his  House  of  Commons  defence  (November 

"But  I  was  afraid  of  this.  Here  was  a  beautifully  drafted  docu- 
ment in  which  you  had  concerned  a  considerable  number  of  men, 
including  a  distinguished  soldier  —  for  a  member  of  the  General 
Staff  was  one  who  was  most  helpful  to  me  in  drafting  the  document  — 
prepared,  carried  by  the  Allies  at  two  or  three  conferences.  Noth- 
ing happens,  simply  an  announcement  in  the  papers  that  at  least  we 
had  found  some  means  of  co-ordination.  There  has  been  too  much 
of  that.  I  made  up  my  mind  to  take  risks.  .  .  ." 

"  "I  considered  it  carefully.  ...  If  that  speech  was  wrong  I 
cannot  plead  any  impulse.  I  cannot  plead  that  it  was  something 
I  said  in  the  heat  of  the  moment.  I  had  considered  it,  and  I  did 
so  for  a  deliberate  purpose."  (House  of  Commons  Defence,  November 
i9th). 


THE  VERSAILLES  COUNCIL  259 

Ever  since  the  beginning  of  the  war,  indeed,  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  had  been  an  international  as  well  as  a 
patriot.  As  in  the  war  itself,  so  in  the  Alliances,  he 
was  always  against  half-measures.  If  we  were  to  be 
true  Allies  of  France  and  Russia — or  later  on  of  Italy 
and  the  United  States — then  we  must  always  work 
with  them  hand  in  hand,  take  close  counsel  with  them 
as  friends,  act  always  together,  not  as  separate  States 
but  as  parts  of  one  common  organisation;  the  real  be- 
ginning of  a  new  "League  of  Nations."  From  the 
very  outset  he  had  no  use  for  national  sectarianism; 
he  could  not  understand  the  idea  of  a  tepid  alliance,  a 
Laodicean  friendship,  timorous  of  mutual  help,  suspi- 
cious of  common  counsel,  feeble  in  reciprocal  aid. 

His  reading  of  history  had  taught  him  that  this  kind 
of  suspicion,  especially  strong  in  island  countries,  had 
been  the  sleeping  sickness,  the  wasting  paralysis,  of 
all  former  mixed  European  Alliances.  It  was  just 
this  same  aloofness,  this  same  separatist  pursuit  of 
national  aims,  that  robbed  Marlborough  of  the  fruits 
of  his  victories.  It  was  precisely  the  same  want  of 
common  planning  that  melted  all  Pitt's  alliances  like 
wax  before  the  fire  of  Napoleon's  energy.  In  more 
recent  days,  it  was  the  similar  want  of  understanding 
between  the  British  and  French  Generals  that  pro- 
longed the  Crimean  War. 

Now  he  determined  to  strike  while  the  iron  was 
white  hot.  The  fire  burned,  and  he  spake  with  his 
tongue.  While  the  events  in  Italy  were  still  fresh  in 
the  memory  of  Europe  he  pointed  the  lesson  in  vivid 
and  biting  language.  It  was  certainly  the  first  time 
that  such  a  speech  had  been  uttered  at  such  a  half- 
private  function — an  official  luncheon  of  the  Premiers 


260  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

arranged  to  give  him  an  interval  of  relaxation  in  his 
journey  back  to  England.  No  wonder  the  orthodox 
were  alarmed. 

Frankly  and  roughly,  like  a  man  in  a  hurry  who  has 
no  time  for  honeyed  speech,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  gave 
to  the  world  his  own  innermost  reasons  for  pressing 
forward  the  machinery  of  central  control. 

For  the  Versailles  Council  was  to  be  a  real  and  not 
a  shadow  control.  He  made  it  clear  that  he  intended 
it  to  possess  a  genuine  authority  over  the  national 
military  staffs.  Even  so,  his  proposals  did  not  go  sa 
far  as  America  and  France  desired;  for  France  already 
wished  for  a  Generalissimo,  and  the  United  States,  be- 
ing too  far  from  the  war  even  to  aim  at  exercising  con- 
trol, were  frankly  willing  to  delegate  the  entire  military 
power  to  the  men  on  the  spot. 

But,  even  so,  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  plan  contained 
the  heart  of  the  matter.  Every  one  engaged  in  the 
controversy  was  aware  that,  once  the  germ  of  unified 
control  was  established,  it  would  grow.  No  local  con- 
trol could  compete  with  it.  On  that  main  principle 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  quite  clear  and  definite.  He 
stated  outright  that  he  would  not  stay  in  office  unless 
his  plan  was  adopted.  "Personally,"  he  said,  referring 
to  the  Rapallo  decision,  "I  had  made  up  my  mind  that, 
unless  some  change  were  effected,  I  could  no  longer 
remain  responsible  for  a  war  direction  doomed  to 
disaster  for  the  lack  of  unity." 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  far  too  old  a  bird  to  have 
any  doubt  as  to  what  troubles  this  speech  would  bring 
on  his  head.  He  was  speaking,  as  he  himself  said, 
"with  perhaps  brutal  frankness  at  the  risk  of  miscon- 


THE  VERSAILLES  COUNCIL  261 

ception  here  and  elsewhere," — perhaps  even,  he  ad- 
mitted, at  the  risk  of  encouraging  the  enemy. 

He  knew  all  that.  But  he  also  knew  that  there 
are  times  when  such  risks  have  to  be  taken.  There 
are  moments  when  an  electric  shock  is  necessary  if 
men  are  to  be  really  aroused  to  the  duty  of  change. 
Eyesight,  they  say,  is  sometimes  restored  by  a  flash 
of  sudden  light.  The  same  method  may  remove  blind- 
ness of  other  kinds. 

The  new  Council,  he  said,  had  already  started  work. 
It  must  have  the  support  of  public  opinion  if  it  was 
to  have  any  genuine  power.  There  must  be  a  new 
central  strength  to  resist  sectional  and  national  in- 
fluences. What  they  wanted  for  victory  was  not  sham 
unity,  but  real.1 

The  Paris  speech  was  followed  by  an  outcry  even 
greater  perhaps  than  Mr.  Lloyd  George  had  expected. 
The  clamours  of  offended  tradition  and  convention 
filled  the  air  of  London,  especially  of  the  London  clubs. 
The  uproar  lasted  for  a  full  week,  and  then  it  found 
voice  in  the  House  of  Commons,  where  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  was  subjected  to  a  kind  of  impeachment  by 
Mr.  Asquith  and  the  Opposition  leaders. 

"This  animal  is  wicked,"  wrote  the  French  fabulist; 
"it  defends  itself."  Such  seems  to  be  the  feeling  be- 
hind much  of  the  fury  provoked  by  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
on  such  occasions.  Such  events  must  be  taken  with 
tranquillity.  The  mutual  play  of  criticism  and  defence 
goes  to  form  the  strength  of  our  public  life,  and  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  is  the  last  man  to  appeal  for  mercy. 
Speaking  this  time  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  No- 

1  Paris  speech.      Times,  November   i3th,   1917.     See   report  in   The 
Great  Crusade,  pp.  151-62   (Hodder  &  Stoughton  1918). 


262  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

vember  iqth  he  apologised  for  nothing.  He  manfully 
stood  his  ground  in  defence  of  the  policy  of  the  Ver- 
sailles Council. 

He  revealed  the  important  fact  that  Lord  Kitchener 
was  the  first  war-chief  who  proposed  closer  co-opera- 
tion between  the  Allies.  Lord  Kitchener  made  that 
suggestion  as  far  back  as  January  1915.  It  was  then 
far  more  difficult  to  carry  out.  But  the  disasters  of 
1917  had  made  it  easier. 

He  made  even  a  more  startling  revelation.  It  was 
that  the  same  proposal  had  been  made  in  July  of  that 
very  year  (1917),  not  by  the  statesmen,  but  by  the 
soldiers  at  a  meeting  of  the  Commanders-in-Chief  at 
which  Sir  William  Robertson,  General  Cadorna,  and 
General  Foch  had  been  all  present.  So  it  was  not 
true,  as  suggested  in  so  many  quarters,  that  this  was  a 
case  of  civilian^  forcing  an  idea  of  their  own  upon 
reluctant  soldiers. 

Then  Mr.  Lloyd  George  passed  to  that  spirited 
personal  defence  of  his  Paris  speech  which  has  since 
become  famous.  It  was,  in  many  respects,  an  apology 
which  extended  to  his  whole  career.  It  was  an  expla- 
nation of  his  own  favourite  political  methods. 

Briefly  put,  it  was  that  he  deliberately  made  a  dis- 
agreeable speech  in  order  to  arouse  public  opinion.  It 
was  not  enough  to  pass  resolutions.  What  he  wanted 
was  public  support.  To  obtain  that  he  had  resolutely 
and  in  cold  blood  set  out  to  give  a  shock  to  the  public 
mind. 

"It  is  not  easy  to  rouse  public  opinion.  I  may 
know  nothing  about  military  strategy,  but  I  do 
know  something  of  political  strategy.  To  get 


JHE  VERSAILLES  COUNCIL  263 

public  opinion  interested  in  a  proposal  and  to  con- 
vince the  public  of  the  desirability  of  it  is  an 
essential  part  of  political  strategy.  That  is  why 
I  did  it.  And  it  has  done  it." 

Here  is  a  precise  statement  of  his  favourite  method 
— the  method  which  he  has  constantly  used  from  the 
moment  of  his  early  defiance  of  the  magistrates  in 
North  Wales  right  up  to  that  famous  interview  of  the 
"Knock-out  Blow."  It  may  be  called  the  application 
to  politics  of  the  military  method  of  the  ''Counter- 
attack." 

The  proof  of  the  pudding  is,  after  all,  in  the  eating. 
The  result,  for  instance,  of  these  two  speeches — the 
Paris  speech  and  the  Commons  defence — was  so  to 
familiarise  and  popularise  the  idea  of  central  military 
control  that  we  now  read  them  with  some  surprise  at 
their  moderation.  We  feel  some  astonishment  that 
such  apologies  should  have  had  to  be  uttered  for  a 
system  of  unified  control  which  afterwards  became  a 
commonplace  of  Allied  strategy.  The  hammer-blows 
of  fate  proved  even  more  effective  than  the  power  of 
words  in  the  House  of  Commons.  But  we  must  re- 
member that  at  the  moment  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was 
beating  up  against  the  wind.  He  had  great  forces 
working  against  him  both  within  Parliament  and  with- 
out. He  had  to  face  a  remarkable  alliance  between 
military  professional  pride,  national  feeling,  and  party 
tactics.  The  triumph  of  these  speeches  is  that  such 
forces  have  proved  so  powerless  in  the  upshot  against 
the  overwhelming  case  for  unity  of  control. 

But  the  struggle  was  now  only  transferred  from  the 
debating-chamber  to  the  council-room.  There  Mr. 


264  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Lloyd  George  was  met  with  a  very  resolute  opposition 
from  a  body  of  military  opinion  supported  by  a  very 
able  and  pugnacious  Press.  The  military  opinion,  at 
any  rate,  was  as  honest  as  it  was  stubborn.  The  power 
of  great  national  traditions  was  linked  to  the  strength 
of  professional  feeling.  It  was  hard  and  painful  to 
come  into  conflict  with  men  like  Sir  William  Robertson. 
But  the  issue  had  to  be  fought  through;  and  no  Gov- 
ernment would  have  been  worth  its  salt  which  allowed 
a  great  political  and  international  issue  to  be  decided 
by  military  opinion.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  fighting 
for  one  of  the  oldest  principles  of  the  British  Con- 
stitution when  he  asserted  the  final  supremacy  of 
civilian  control. 

Yet  it  was  not  remarkable  that  the  debate  on  this 
issue  should  have  puzzled  the  minds  of  many  honest 
men.  For  it  raised  the  old  question — should  not  mat- 
ters of  war  be  left  entirely  to  the  soldiers?  Those 
who  maintain  that  view  seemed  to  have  a  very  strong 
weight  of  common  sense  on  their  side.  For  how  should 
civilians  know  anything  of  war? 

A  simple  child, 
That  lightly  draws  its  breath, 
And  feels  its  life  in  every  limb, 
What  should  it  know  of  death? 

And  is  not  the  civilian  a  mere  child  in  the  fiery  matters 
of  war? 

In  any  ordinary  war  it  would  seem  to  be  the  right 
policy  for  statesmen  to  hand  purely  military  matters 
to  the  soldiers  and  keep  negotiations  for  themselves. 
The  business  of  the  statesman  would  appear  to  be  to 
stand  by  as  a  possible  peacemaker;  although  there  have 
been  wars  which  have  been  not  only  skilfully  conducted 


THE  VERSAILLES  COUNCIL  265 

but  also  wisely  concluded  by  soldiers.  Lord  Kitchener, 
for  instance,  was  never  greater  than  in  the  negotia- 
tions which  ended  the  Boer  War. 

But  this  World-war  was  already  seen  to  be  no  ordi- 
nary war.  If  the  European  side  of  the  war  alone  had 
been  confined  to  Flanders,  then,  as  in  the  wars  of 
Marlborough,  both  strategy  and  statesmanship  might 
have  been  left  to  the  same  man;  although  in  that  con- 
spicuous case  it  was  the  civilian  statesman  who  had 
to  intervene  before  peace  could  be  achieved.  But, 
with  operations  confined  and  aims  defined,  the  part  of 
the  civilians  often  lightly  limited  to  the  choice  of  gen- 
erals and  the  provision  of  armies. 

Here,  however,  was  a  war  in  which  operations  could 
not  be  confined  nor  aims  defined.  Here  was  a  struggle 
already  (1917)  limited  to  no  country  and  to  no  con- 
tinent; carried  on  in  three  elements — earth,  sea,  and 
air — a  conflict  enveloping  a  planet. 

In  Europe  alone  the  battle-front  stretched  across 
the  whole  Continent  from  west  to  east;  and  Palestine 
and  Mesopotamia  belonged  to  the  same  front  as 
Belgium.1 

Such  a  war  has  multitudinous  aspects.  It  has  its 
politics  as  well  as  its  strategy ;  its  tactics  of  the  council- 
room  as  well  as  its  tactics  of  the  field.  Military  de- 
cisions have  often  to  be  based  on  political  considera- 
tions; the  movements  of  armies  are  decided  by  the 
relations  of  the  Allied  countries.  Even  strategy  itself 
is  revolutionised;  for  in  such  a  war  strategy  stakes 

1  "We  have  gone  on  talking  of  the  Eastern  front  and  the  Western 
front,  and  the  Italian  front,  and  the  Salonika  front,  and  the  Egypt- 
ian front,  and  the  Mesopotamia  front,  forgetting  that  there  is  but 
one  front  with  many  flanks;  that  with  these  colossal  armies  the 
battle-field  is  continental"  (Mr.  Lloyd  George  at  Paris,  November 
izth). 


266  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

many  new  forms — there  is  the  strategy  of  the  air  as 
well  as  the  strategy  of  the  earth;  the  strategy  of  the 
sea  as  well  as  the  strategy  of  air.  There  is  the  strategy 
of  continents  as  well  as  the  strategy  of  countries.  But 
all  through  the  one  distinguishing  feature  of  the  whole 
war  was  that  nowhere  in  any  aspect  could  strategy  be 
wholly  divorced  from  statesmanship. 

The  Germans  recognised  this  fact  throughout.  The 
direction  of  their  attacks — east  or  west — was  often 
decided  by  political  motives.  War  offensives  were 
mingled  with  peace  offensives,  and  the  art  of  Machiavel 
added  to  the  art  of  Napoleon.  The  hell's  broth  at 
Berlin  was  cunningly  brewed  of  the  mingled  herbs  of 
war  and  peace.  Perhaps  it  would  have  been  as  well 
if  sometimes  we  had  given  to  them  the  flattery  which 
consists  in  imitation. 

But  in  Great  Britain  there  has  always  been  a  cruder 
division  between  the  soldier  and  the  politician.  Just 
as  the  soldier  is  suppressed  during  times  of  peace  so 
the  statesman  is  allowed  little  say  during  times  of 
war.  We  have  yet  to  learn  from  our  enemies  that 
war  is  a  form  of  politics,  and  that  neither  of  the  two 
activities  of  the  State  can  be  wholly  divided  from  the 
other.  The  cry  of  "Hands  off  the  war!"  uttered  to 
the  statesman  is  equivalent  to  a  cry  of  dismissal. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George,  at  any  rate,  was  not  at  all  willing 
to  accept  this  impotent  conclusion.  He  was  clear  that 
if  the  soldiers  were  to  conduct  the  whole  strategy  of 
the  war  they  must  be  responsible  for  the  politics  of 
the  war  also.  The  only  conclusion  of  that  logic  was 
a  military  dictatorship.  But,  to  do  them  justice,  none 
of  the  honest  soldiers  who  contended  with  him  nursed 
ambitions  of  that  kind.  The  only  end  to  the  argument, 


THE  VERSAILLES  COUNCIL  267 

therefore,  was  certain  to  be  a  vindication  of  the  civil 
power.  To  win  the  war,  the  soldier  and  the  states- 
man must  work  hand  in  hand.  That  was  the  sound  and 
safe  line  of  policy  along  which  Mr. '  Lloyd  George 
steadily  worked. 

He  tried  his  best  to  win  over  those  eminent  soldiers 
who  honestly  held  the  other  view  and  opposed  the 
Versailles  Council  on  principle.  Sir  William  Robert- 
son was  offered  the  high  position  of  British  representa- 
tive in  the  Council.  From  reasons  which  did  him 
nothing  but  credit — reasons  of  honest  conviction — he 
refused  the  position  and  took  instead  the  Eastern  Com- 
mand. Another  soldier,  Sir  Frederick  Maurice  (Di- 
rector of  Military  Operations  on  the  Army  Council) 
carried  his  opposition  further  on  retirement  from  the 
Council.  He  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Press  openly  dis- 
puting the  accuracy  of  certain  statements  made  by  the 
Prime  Minister  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  offered  a  Court  of  Judges  to  try  the  case ;  but, 
on  Mr.  Asquith  preferring  a  Committee  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  decided  to  vindicate 
his  own  accuracy  before  the  House  of  Commons  itself. 
The  result  of  his  defence  was  that  he  obtained  an  over- 
whelming majority  as  a  vote  of  confidence  in  himself 
and  his  Government.  But  it  was  necessary  for  the 
Army  Council  to  vindicate  discipline;  and  Sir  Fred- 
erick Maurice  was  retired  on  half-pay. 

Painful  as  this  incident  was  to  all  who  had  regard 
for  an  honourable  and  high-minded  soldier,  it  was  a 
necessary  and  salutary  assertion  of  civilian  control  over 
military. 

British  opinion,  at  any  rate,  steadily  supported  Mr. 
Lloyd  George.  Events  at  the  front  soon  bore  out 


268  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

only  too  clearly  the  soundness  of  his  views.  It  was 
noted  that  in  the  battle  of  St.  Quentin  the  German 
armies  stuck  at  the  link  between  the  British  and  the 
French  forces  with  the  sure  instinct  that  there  they 
would  find  the  weakest  point.  The  moral  was  only 
too  obvious.  Control  must  not  be  less  united,  but 
more.  Without  a  protest  from  any  responsible  quar- 
ter in  Great  Britain  the  famous  Frenchman,  General 
Foch,  was  in  1918  appointed  Generalissimo  on  the 
Western  front. 

Thus  the  policy  of  Rapallo  triumphed,  and  the  unity 
of  control  was  attained. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

VICTORY 

"O  God!  Thy  arm  was  here; 
And  not  to  us,  but  to  Thy  arm  alone, 
Ascribe  we  all." 

SHAKESPEARE'S  Henry  V,  Act  IV,  Sc.  via. 

THE  last  year  of  the  Great  War  was  undoubtedly 
the  most  critical  and  momentous  year  in  the  modern 
history  of  these  islands.  By  an  amazing  combination 
of  events,  Western  Europe  was  subject  to  a  sudden  re- 
vival of  extreme  peril  exceeding  in  violence  the  menace 
of  1914.  Looking  back  from  the  security  of  the 
present  time  (1920)  it  is  easy  to  underrate  the  threat 
of  that  great  attack  by  the  Central  Powers:  and,  in- 
deed, in  our  present  discussions  there  is  an  almost 
perilous  oblivion  of  the  dangers  through  which  we  have 
passed.  But  those  who  study  the  memoirs  of  the 
German  War  Leaders,  which  have  poured  out  since 
the  close  of  the  war,1  will  realise  the  complete  con- 
fidence of  the  German  General  Staff  in  the  victory 
which  seemed  to  lie  ahead  of  them,  as  the  natural 
climax  to  the  series  of  smashing  blows  which  they 
had  delivered  to  their  enemies  during  the  two  previous 
years  (1916-17). 

*The  Memoirs  of  Von  Tirpitz  and  Falkenhayn,  and  last,  but 
not  least,  the  frank  and  outspoken  War  Memories  of  General 
LudendorflE. 

269 


270  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

General  Ludendorff  finds  the  chief  reason  for  the 
German  defeat  in  the  war  spirit  which  had  been 
aroused  in  England  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Lloyd 
George,  and  in  France  by  the  inspiration  of  M. 
Clemenceau.  Neither  of  those  leaders  would  admit 
that  they  alone  could  have  achieved  so  great  a  triumph 
for  liberty  over  the  menace  of  militarism.  It  was 
the  spirit  of  the  peoples  of  France  and  Great  Britain 
that  really  achieved  resounding  victory — the  peoples 
who  shrank  from  no  sacrifice  and  faced  every  trial 
rather  than  accept  defeat.  I  have  in  my  memory  the 
spectacle  of  a  regiment  of  boys  of  eighteen  and  nine- 
teen— London  boys,  freshly  plucked  from  the  counter 
and  the  van — whom  I  met  one  evening,  at  the  height 
of  the  crisis  in  the  spring  of  1918,  marching  to  be  en- 
trained from  Norfolk  to  Northern  France.  "Shall 
we  win  the  war?"  shouted  one  half  of  them,  and  the 
other  half  replied  with  an  echoing  shout — "Yesl" 
Those  youths  had  been  cut  off  from  all  leave  and  were 
being  plunged  into  the  firing-line  at  a  few  hours'  notice. 
They  went  singing  to  almost  certain  death.  They  were 
the  fit  crusaders  of  a  race  that  never  contemplated 
defeat;  and  no  man  who  had  such  a  people  behind 
him  could  vainly  boast  of  his  own  single  achievements. 

Yet  leadership  counts  for  much,  and  vainly  do  the 
masses  struggle  if  those  at  the  top  weaken  and  faint. 
There  is  no  greater  misfortune  that  can  befall  a  race 
than  failure  of  valour  and  resolution  in  high  places. 
It  was  because  Mr.  Lloyd  George  kept,  in  the  utmost 
stress  of  those  events,  his  courage  undimmed  and  his 
spirit  unshaken,  that  he  has  rightly  earned  so  large  a 
part  in  the  credit  of  victory. 

Another  scene  comes  back  to  me  from  those  dark 


VICTORY  271 

days.  I  was  standing  in  front  of  one  of  the  large- 
scale  maps  at  Downing  Street,  noting  the  point  reached 
by  the  German  legions  in  one  of  those  tremendous  and 
determined  efforts  to  drive  us  into  the  sea  during  the 
April  of  1918.  There  was  the  sound  of  a  step  behind 
us,  and  suddenly  we  turned  to  find  the  Prime  Minister 
also  observing  the  map  with  a  close  and  concentrated 
gaze.  We  knew  that  things  were  serious,  and  that 
there  were  influences  at  the  centre  in  favour  of  with- 
drawing our  armies  from  France.  But  of  all  the  com- 
pany he  was  the  serenest.  "Serious?  Yes!"  he  said. 
"But  by  no  means  desperate.  Look  here!"  and  he 
pointed  to  the  north  of  Calais.  "We  can  flood  that 
area  if  necessary.  Then,  if  they  drive  us  south  of 
Calais,  we  can  still  hold  on.  France  is  a  large  place, 
and  it  has  many  ports.  Retire  from  France?  No,  we 
will  stand  by  our  Allies  to  the  last!"  And  he  went 
away  singing,  as  undismayed  as  those  boys  whom  I  had 
seen  marching  to  France.  A  worthy  leader  of  a  worthy 
nation! 

On  another  day  I  remember  him  describing  to  me  a 
visit  he  had  paid  to  the  fighting  line  at  the  most  critical 
moment  of  that  great  peril.  He  spoke  with  flashing 
eyes.  "We  motored,"  he  said,  "from  the  coast  right 
up  to  the  fighting  front,  and  we  did  not  meet  a  single 
British  soldier  in  flight.  Not  one  had  turned  his  back 
to  the  enemy,  not  one!"  Yet  during  that  time  the 
German  guns  were  enfilading  our  trenches  lined  with 
English  boys,  and  the  chance  of  survival  in  that  defence 
without  death  or  injury  had  been  reduced  almost  to  the 
point  of  zero. 

What  was  the  cause  of  this  last  and  most  perilous 
phase?  It  was  the  collapse  of  Russia,  produced  by 


272  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

the  Bolshevist  coup  d'etat  in  Petrograd  on  November 
yth,  1917.  On  that  day,  Lenin  achieved  the  purpose 
for  which  the  Germans  had  given  him  his  passports  into 
Russia.  He  destroyed  Kerensky,  who  combined  revolu- 
tion with  national  war,  and  he  substituted  a  policy 
of  international  peace  combined  with  civil  war.  Both 
edges  of  that  policy  were  sharpened  to  the  destruction 
of  Russia  as  a  war  power,  and  on  December  2Oth  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  warned  the  House  of  Commons  that 
the  collapse  of  Russia,  following  on  the  Italian  defeat, 
would  require  a  new  and  still  greater  output  of  man- 
power by  Great  Britain.  A  Bill  for  that  purpose  was 
introduced  into  the  House  of  Commons  on  January 
I4th,  abolishing  almost  the  last  exemptions  from  mili- 
tary service.  Events  in  Russia  moved  swiftly.  On 
November  2ist  the  Bolshevists  made  to  the  Germans 
a  definite  proposal  for  armistice,  and  peace  negotiations 
began  at  Brest-Litovsk  on  December  2nd.  The  Bol- 
shevists twice  broke  up  the  Constituent  Assembly  at 
Petrograd  by  force  of  arms.  The  Germans  put  for- 
ward peace  terms  of  such  severity  that  even  the  Bol- 
shevists were  dismayed,  and  Trotsky  attempted  to  de- 
clare peace  without  signing  the  treaty.  Thereupon  the 
Germans  advanced  their  armies  into  Russia,  meeting 
with  no  resistance,  and  occupying  Minsk  in  the  north 
and  Kieff  in  the  south.  Powerless  in  the  face  of  this 
invasion,  the  Bolshevists  signed  the  peace  treaty  on 
March  2nd,  surrendering  Lithuania,  Finland,  the 
Ukraine,  Poland,  and  the  Baltic  Provinces,  promising 
demobilisation  of  their  armies  and  internment  of  their 
ships.  Russia  was  out  of  the  war.  On  March  5th  the 
Germans  followed  this  up  by  signing  peace  with  Ru- 
mania, and  on  March  6th  they  signed  peace  with  Fin- 


VICTORY  273 

land.  Their  great  armies  in  the  East  of  Europe  were 
now  free  to  work  their  will  on  the  West. 

Ludendorff  has  told  us  that  even  then  there  was 
some  debate  among  the  German  military  chiefs  be- 
tween the  policy  of  defence  in  the  West  and  the  policy 
of  attack.  But  Mr.  Lloyd  George  saw  clearly  that  the 
Germans  would  be  obliged  to  attack.  They  were  com- 
pelled by  the  logic  of  the  blockade.  With  all  her 
feverish  triumphs  in  the  East  of  Europe,  Germany  was, 
at  that  moment,  in  a  parlous  plight.  She  was  in  the 
position  of  a  besieged  city.  She  had  either  to  break 
out  or  to  surrender.  The  fearful  ravage  which  she 
perpetrated  in  Rumania  and  the  Ukraine,  and  in  the 
western  provinces  of  Russia  also,  were  really  the  meas- 
ure of  her  need.  Food  and  materials  were  more 
necessary  for  her  at  that  moment  than  military 
triumphs,  and  she  hastened  to  cash  all  her  victories  into 
material  produce  of  one  kind  or  another.  ,  Like  a  hun- 
gry tiger,  she  devoured  her  prey.  But  there  were  other 
beasts  afoot  in  Eastern  Europe  at  the  same  time,  and 
we  know  now  that  the  division  of  the  loot  caused  ex- 
treme bitterness  between  Germany  and  Austria- 
Hungary,  and  that  the  resentment  of  the  Ukraine 
forced  Germany  to  keep  troops  in  the  East  of  Europe 
which  might  have  struck  the  decisive  blow  in  the  West. 
Such  is  the  Nemesis  of  greed. 

But  still  Germany  could  realise  immediately  over 
2,000,000  new  fighting  men  for  the  grand  sortie  now 
planned  on  the  Western  Front,  and  Ludendorff  has 
told  us  how  quickly  and  strenuously  he  trained  the 
troops  for  thisi  gigantic  effort.  The  blow  came  on 
March  2ist,  against  the  Third  and  Fourth  British 
Armies  between  the  Scarpe  and  the  Oise.  Forty  Ger- 


274  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

man  divisions  attacked,  and  on  the  second  day,  the 
22nd,  there  was  a  break  through  west  of  St.  Quentin. 
On  the  following  days  the  British  line  had  to  with- 
draw nearly  fifteen  miles,  back  to  the  line  of  the 
Somme,  losing  prisoners  all  the  way,  but  inflicting  very 
heavy  losses  on  the  attacking  division.  The  British 
line  was  broken,  but  not  the  British  Army.  During 
the  following  days  the  German  divisions  steadily 
poured  through  the  gap,  crossing  the  Somme,  capturing 
Albert  and  Mezieres,  some  90,000  British  prisoners, 
and  over  1,300  guns. 

The  peril  opened  by  this  event  both  to  France  and 
the  British  Empire  lasted  for  four  months,  and  during 
that  period  there  was  scarcely  a  day  on  which  the  strain 
was  relaxed.  Colossal  issues  were  at  stake,  and  among 
the  chief  was  whether  the  British  Empire  should  sur- 
vive. Mr.  Lloyd  George  rose  to  the  height  of  the  crisis 
at  once,  and  kept  on  the  summit  until  the  close.  Day 
by  day  he  never  relaxed  his  energy  or  his  courage.  He 
did  not  abate,  in  those  dark  days,  one  jot  of  heart  or 
hope.  There  was  no  resource  or  reserve  of  national 
strength  which  he  did  not  bring  to  bear.  There  was 
no  device  that  he  left  untried.  It  is  easy  to  speak  of 
the  hurricane  and  storm  when  you  have  reached  har- 
bour, but  there  is  little  doubt  that,  unless  we  had  had  a 
good  captain  on  the  bridge,  the  great  ship  "British 
Empire"  would  have  foundered. 

He  envisaged  the  problem  in  two  ways — strategy 
and  numbers.  He  saw  the  Allied  Forces  faced  by  over- 
whelming myriads  of  Teuton  troops,  combined  under 
one  central  command.  To  resist  this  assault  he  was 
more  than  ever  of  the  opinion  that  the  defenders  also 
must  be  placed  under  one  command,  and  he  carried  his 


VICTORY  275 

faith  to  the  full  logic  of  his  conclusion.  In  April  he 
agreed  to  the  appointment  of  General  Foch  as  supreme 
Commander  of  the  Allied  Forces.  It  was  a  step  in- 
volving great  risks  and  great  faith.  Fortunately  Sir 
Douglas  (now  Lord)  Haig  agreed  with  Mr.  Lloyd 
George,  and  played  the  game  to  the  full,  like  the  great 
soldier  he  was.  Otherwise  the  thing  could  not  have 
been  done.  The  trial  came  for  the  British  when,  as 
the  crisis  deepened,  Marshal  Foch  began  to  exercise 
his  full  powers,  and  to  withdraw  from  the  direction  of 
the  coast  great  British  forces  which  had  been  placed 
there  in  reserve  for  the  protection  of  the  British  line 
and  the  security  of  the  Channel. 

Like  all  great  commanders,  Foch  himself  had  to  take 
risks  and  to  meet  the  German  concentrations  by  great 
concentrations  on  his  own  side.-  For  this  purpose  he 
had  to  wield  full  power  over  both  British  and  French 
Armies,  and  he  exercised  it  to  the  full  in  the  great 
battles  of  that  summer.  It  was  an  anxious  time  for 
the  British  Government.  But  Mr.  Lloyd  George  had 
taken  the  full  measure  of  Foch  as  a  soldier:  he  fully 
believed  in  him,  and  he  went  to  the  whole  extent  of  his 
faith.  A  working  arrangement  was  come  to  by  which 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  went  over  to  meet  Clemenceau  and 
Foch  at  Paris  periodically,  and  the  supreme  conduct  of 
the  war  was  now  in  the  hands  of  these  three  men. 
So  far  for  the  strategy  which  governed  the  great  battles 
of  that  summer. 

Then  for  numbers.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  saw  in  a 
moment  that,  unless  drastic  and  exceptional  measures 
were  taken  the  Allied  Forces  would  simply  be  snowed 
under  by  the  hosts  of  the  enemy.  To  meet  this  danger 
the  natural  counter-measure  was  to  throw  across  the 


276  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Channel  all  the  troops  in  England  sufficiently  trained 
to  go  into  the  shock  of  battle.  For  this  purpose  he 
was  obliged  to  suspend  all  the  usual  age  limits  from 
active  foreign  service  and  to  send  across  the  Channel 
the  great  army  of  youths  enlisted  under  the  Conscrip- 
tion Act,  and  hitherto  prepared  only  for  home  defence. 
These  great  forces  streamed  across  in  the  months  of 
April,  May,  and  June,  and  did  something  to  fill  up  the 
gaps  in  the  line.  But  as  the  weeks  went  by  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  perceived  that  the  British  reinforcements  alone 
would  be  unequal  to  the  great  task.  The  Germans 
were  still  straining  every  nerve,  and  they  were  fighting 
against  time.  Our  Government  could  not  precisely 
tell  how  many  reserves  the  Germans  still  possessed, 
or  how  many  men  they  could  spare  from  their  Eastern 
Front.  The  Germans  were  working  on  the  calculation 
that  the  Americans  could  not  come  across  till  1919  or 
1920,  and  their  submarines  were  operating  feverishly 
to  keep  up  the  alarm  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The 
Americans  themselves  were  too  far  removed  from  the 
scene  of  danger  to  realise  at  once  the  greatness  of  the 
emergency.  But  they  only  required  the  S.O.S.  signal. 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  determined  to  give  it. 

One  morning  that  spring  he  made  up  his  mind. 

"We  have  to  get  500,000  Americans  over  in  four 
months,  at  the  rate  of  1 25,000  a  month.  How  can  that 
be  done?"  That  was  the  problem  as  he  saw  it  and 
as  he  expressed  it.  He  began  to  send  a  series  of  tele- 
grams to  President  Wilson  through  Lord  Reading, 
explaining  to  Mr.  Wilson  the  peril  and  the  need  of 
instant  help.  President  Wilson  immediately  grasped 
the  crisis.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  organised  the  Navy  and 
the  Merchant  Service  for  the  work  of  transport  on 


VICTORY  277 

the  British  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  President  Wilson 
did  the  same  on  his  side.  So  began  that  great  Armada 
of  help  from  the  New  World.  The  American  divisions 
poured  across  the  Atlantic,  overcrowded  on  their  trans- 
ports, packed  almost  to  suffocation,  but  willing  to 
suffer  all  things  in  the  great  crusade  on  which  they 
were  bent.  The  Americans,  indeed,  did  far  better 
than  the  British  Government  had  expected.  They  sent 
a  million  men.  It  was  a  magnificent  performance,  and 
must  ever  be  remembered  to  the  credit  of  that  great 
nation. 

Then  President  Wilson  and  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  act- 
ing together,  went  one  step  further.  When  the  Ameri- 
can troops  arrived  many  of  them  were  instantly  bri- 
gaded with  the  British  and  French  forces,  and  so  they 
learnt  with  the  greatest  rapidity  possible  all  the  craft 
and  ruses  necessary  for  modern  warfare.  They  did 
their  utmost  to  acquire  in  a  few  months  all  those  new 
arts  of  destruction  which  it  had  taken  Europe  years  to 
evolve.  To  achieve  this,  for  the  time  they  gave  up 
America's  great  dream  of  a  national  army.  But,  after 
all,  the  greatest  fact  of  all  was  their  arrival. 

Meanwhile,  during  these  weeks  of  suspense  and 
endeavour  the  German  armies  had  struck  again  and 
again  in  the  last  desperate  campaign  for  victory. 
Through  April,  May,  and  June  the  issue  still  hung  in 
the  balance. 

The  second  great  attack  on  April  4th,  when 
twenty  German  divisions,  advancing  towards  Amiens, 
attempted  to  divide  the  British  Armies  from  the 
French.  That  attack  came  very  near  to  success.  We 
all  know  how  the  Germans  arrived  at  positions  from 
which  they  could  bombard  Amiens  and  paralyse  the 


278  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

communications,  and  it  is  blazed  on  the  records  of 
fame  how  the  armies  of  the  British  Empire — men  from 
Australia  and  Canada — held  the  line  at  Villers- 
Brettoneux,  and  by  their  invincible  blending  of  defence 
and  attack  kept  the  assailing  German  divisions  from 
achieving  their  purpose. 

A  few  days  later  a  new  attack  developed,  this  time 
farther  north,  west  of  Lille.  From  the  British  point  of 
view  this  was  the  most  menacing  attack  of  all.  It  was 
a  determined  attempt  to  drive  the  British  armies  into 
the  sea.  On  April  loth  Armentieres  was  occupied  and 
the  bloodstained  Ridge  of  Messines  crossed.  On  the 
1 5th  Bailleul  was  taken,  and  on  the  25th  the  attack 
came  to  a  climax  with  the  capture  of  Kemmel  Hill 
under  the  eyes  of  the  German  Emperor.  Yet  the  Ger- 
mans could  not  gain  the  decision  they  require.  The 
British  troops  gave  ground,  but  always  fought  on.  The 
line  bent,  but  it  did  not  break. 

But,  as  the  weeks  went  on,  the  British  Government 
replied  in  stern  deeds  which  the  whole  British  people 
supported.  Not  only  did  the  younger  men  stream 
across  the  Channel,  but  the  older  men  lined  up  to 
take  their  places.  It  was  on  March  Qth  that  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  introduced  that  last  and  tremendous 
Military  Service  Act,  raising  the  age  to  fifty,  with  a 
reserve  possibility  of  fifty-five,  and  threatening  to  ex- 
tend conscription  to  Ireland.  Such  extreme  measures 
became  in  the  result  unnecessary:  but  partly  because  the 
British  people  showed  that  they  were  possible. 

Ludendorff  has  described  to  us  the  gradual  waning 
of  his  hopes  1  in  face  of  the  unbroken  resolution  of  the 

1  War  Memories  (Hutchinson  &  Co.,  London),  Vol.  II,  pp.  613-4  for 
decline  of  morale,  pp.  643-5  f°r  effect  of  our  propaganda. 


VICTORY  379 

British  people  under  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  the  swift 
dying  off  in  the  fire  of  battle  of  all  their  best  troops, 
and  the  failing  of  human  morale  which  took  place  un- 
der the  stress  of  those  costly  onslaughts.  There  is  no 
more  dramatic  story  in  history  than  his  account  of  the 
way  in  which  the  revolutionary  poison  which  the  Ger- 
mans had  inoculated  into  Russia  by  the  sending  of 
Lenin  returned  back  into  the  German  Army  and  grad- 
ually destroyed  by  its  discipline  and  undermined  its  de- 
sire for  victory.1  But  there  is  another  side  to  that  story. 
Ludendorff  describes,  without  apparently  understand- 
ing the  significance  of  his  narrative,  the  way  in  which 
his  troops,  when  they  had  captured  a  position,  would 
spend  the  precious  minutes  in  overhauling  and  devour- 
ing the  stores  of  food  which  they  found.2  He  seems  to 
regard  that  as  merely  a  sign  of  the  weakening  of  mili- 
tary discipline.  But  the  plain  fact  is  that  hunger  has 
no  respect  for  discipline;  and  it  was  hunger  that  was 
eating  at  the  vitals  of  the  German  nation — hunger  and 
want  of  all  the  essentials  of  war.  The  blockade  was 
completing  the  work  of  our  armies.  For  our  prisoners 
found  that  the  Germans  were  lacking  in  the  most  ele- 
mentary medical  necessities  and  that  their  transport  had 
reached  a  point  of  decay  which  made  it  almost  impossi- 
ble for  them  properly  to  feed  and  maintain theirarmies. 
Ludendorff  blames  the  German  nation  for  not  sup- 
porting the  German  Army,  but  the  fact  is  that  this  was 
not  a  war  of  armies,  but  a  war  of  nations.  The  Ger- 
man Army  was  still  capable  of  great  deeds,  but  the 
German  nation  behind  was  stricken  to  the  heart. 
Therefore,  the  strength  of  the  Army,  which  drew  its 

'Vol.  II,  pp.  642-4,  767-9.  2Vol.  II,  p.  611. 


280  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

vitality  from  the  nation,  was  rapidly  waning  even  in 
those  moments  of  victory. 

With  his  instinctive  insight  for  the  real  facts  of  the 
situation,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  saw  that  even  in  the 
darkest  hour  here  was  the  governing  issue — which  na- 
tion could  hold  out  the  longest.  So  now  he  set  himself, 
with  all  his  great  powers,  to  hearten  and  encourage 
both  the  peoples  and  the  Armies  in  France  and  Great 
Britain.  He  kept  travelling  between  London  and  Paris, 
attending  the  meetings  of  the  Versailles  Council,  visit- 
ing the  armies  at  the  front,  and  exchanging  cheerful 
messages  between  the  fighting  men  and  the  civilians. 
On  the  day  Bailleul  was  captured,  April  I5th,  he  boldly 
declared  that  we  had  lost  "nothing  vital."  On  May 
3rd  he  returned  from  the  Versailles  Council  with  a  mes- 
sage from  the  troops  to  the  nation  at  home — "Be  of 
good  cheer.  We  are  all  right!" 

But  the  crisis  was  by  no  means  at  an  end.  In  May 
there  came  a  third  German  attack,  this  time  towards 
Paris,  and  before  it  was  broken  it  had  driven  the  British 
and  French  armies  across  the  Aisne  and  the  Marne  and 
had  come  within  almost  thirty  miles  of  Paris.  Those 
were  anxious  days.  But  the  lure  of  Paris  was  again  to 
prove  fatal  to  the  German  Army.  Foch  withdrew  his 
armies  only  to  prepare  for  a  fiercer  spring.  "My  left 
is  driven  back,  and  my  right  is  driven  back.  I  shall 
attack  with  my  centre !"  was  his  famous  utterance.  The 
Germans  were  drawn  perilously  on,  until  with  a  sudden 
smashing  blow  on  July  i8th  Foch  crumpled  up  the  right 
side  of  the  phalanx  which  they  were  driving  towards 
Paris.  Ludendorff  tells  us  that,  even  after  that  unex- 
pected defeat,  the  German  Staff  still  cherished  hopes 
of  victory  towards  the  north,  although,  to  all  outside 


VICTORY  281 

observers,  their  aggressive  powers  seemed  to  be  ex- 
hausted. 

It  was  the  attack  on  August  8th  of  the  British  and 
French  troops  together,  aided  by  an  army  of  tanks, 
storming  the  German  lines  east  of  Amiens,  that  came 
to  Ludendorff  as  the  final  blow  to  his  hopes.  From 
that  time  onward,  until  November,  is  one  long  story  of 
unbroken  victory  for  the  Allies.  But  it  was  victory 
dearly  purchased  by  blood  and  endurance ;  for  the  Ger- 
man armies  retired  sullenly  and  inflicted  heavy  casual- 
ties.1 We  must  not  underrate  the  heroism  of  those 
months.  It  is  no  small  thing  that  the  armies  endured 
to  the  end.  It  is  clear,  from  the  memoirs  of  the  Ger- 
man chiefs,  that  they  were  still  looking  eagerly  for  any 
sign  of  weakness,  and  that  the  smallest  symptom  of 
war-weariness  would  have  led  to  a  renewal  of  German 
hopes.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  saw  this  clearly,  and  never 
to  the  end  did  he  give  way  to  boasting.  "The  worst 
is  over,"  he  said  at  Manchester  on  September  I2th, 
"but  the  end  is  not  yet." 

We  know  now  from  Ludendorff  that  suggestions  for 
an  armistice  were  made  by  him  to  the  German  Govern- 
ment immediately  after  August  8th.  But  at  first  the 
civilian  power,  under  Count  Hertling,  the  German 
Chancellor,  and  his  successor  Hintze,  was  inclined  to 
hold  out.  It  was  not  until  after  the  smashing  up  of 
Bulgaria  on  September  i6th,  ending  with  its  surrender 
on  the  3Oth,  that  Hintze  resigned  and  gave  place  to 
Prince  Max  of  Baden.  It  was  now  the  turn  of  the 
German  military  chiefs  to  resist  the  civilians  in  their 

1  There  were  seven  distinct  great  battles  after  August  8th — 
Bapaume,  Epehy,  two  battles  of  Cambrai,  Courtrai,  Selle,  and 
Valenciennes. 


282  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

passion  for  surrender.  For  Ludendorff  was  in  favour 
of  a  final  rally,  whilst  Prince  Max  was  resolute  to  make 
peace. 

It  was  to  President  Wilson  that  Prince  Max  made 
his  overtures  for  an  armistice  based  on  the  Fourteen 
Points,1  and  the  negotiations  continued  all  through  Oc- 
tober. No  one  who  lived  through  those  days  will  for- 
get the  high,  austere  dignity  of  the  American  Presi- 
dent's replies,  which  fell  on  the  German  Government 
and  people  with  all  the  inexorable  force  of  impartial 
justice.  He  insisted  that  the  Germans  should  leave  all 
invaded  soil,  that  they  should  cease  their  barbarisms  on 
land  and  sea,  and  that  the  terms  of  Armistice  must  be 
such  as  to  make  a  renewal  of  hostilities  impossible.2 

President  Wilson  carried  the  correspondence  with 
Prince  Max  as  far  as  he  'could  without  being  in  control 
of  the  armies,  and  then  he  telegraphed  the  letters  to  the 
Governments  of  his  Allies  in  Europe.  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  at  once  saw  the  practical  peril  of  the  new  sit- 
uation. It  was  that  the  German  military  chiefs  might 
use  the  Armistice  for  a  recovery  of  strength,  and 
Ludendorff's  Memoirs  show  that  he  had  full  justifica- 
tion for  that  fear.3  He  resolved  at  once  that  the  only 
safe  armistice  would  be  one  of  complete  disarmament, 
and  with  that  policy  in  his  mind  he  went  to  Paris  to 
meet  M.  Clemenceau  and  Marshal  Foch.  There  at 
Versailles  a  full  historic  conference  of  all  the  Allies 
took  place,  and  lasted  a  fortnight.  The  European  Al- 
lies modified  President  Wilson's  terms  on  certain  essen- 
tial points.  Great  Britain  excluded  the  control  of  the 

1  See  Appendix  D  for  the  Fourteen  Points. 

2  American   Note  of  October  23rd,    1918. 

3  Page  721.     The  armistice  terms  were  to  permit  a  "resumption  of 
hostilities  on  our  own  borders." 


VICTORY  283 

seas  from  the  sphere  of  negotiations,  and  France  in- 
sisted on  a  wider  interpretation  of  President  Wilson's 
reparation  demand.  President  Wilson  agreed  to  both 
these  modifications. 

Then  the  Versailles  Council  passed  to  their  imme- 
diate practical  conditions.  Marshal  Foch  insisted  that 
the  Germans  must  ask  for  an  Armistice  in  the  ordinary 
military  way  from  himself,  the  Allied  Commander. 
That  being  agreed,  the  terms  were  framed — and  they 
were  pretty  drastic  terms.  The  German  armies  must 
retire  across  the  Rhine  and  must  be  demobilised.  Ger- 
man guns  and  ships  must  be  surrendered.1  In  fact, 
Germany  must  be  rendered  incapable  of  resuming  the 
war.  Only  on  those  terms  was  an  Armistice  possible 
with  an  enemy  who  had  given  such  dire  proofs  of  ill- 
faith. 

Faced  with  these  terrible  terms,  Ludendorff  made  a 
last  effort  to  rally  Germany  to  a  final  war  of  defence. 
But  he  was  too  late.  He  himself  had  fatally  weakened 
the  German  fighting  power  when  he  suggested  negotia- 
tions in  August.  Then  the  civilians  had  protested.  But 
now  that  they  had  been  converted  to  peace,  nothing 
could  make  Germany  face  the  guns  again.  Their  mili- 
tary strength  suddenly  collapsed.  Turkey  surrendered 
on  October  3ist,  and  Austria-Hungary  on  November 
4th.  The  bell  of  doom  had  begun  to  toll. 

On  November  4th  the  German  Government  made  a 
final  effort  to  command  their  fleet  on  to  the  high  seas. 
But  the  fleet  mutinied,  and  from  that  mutiny  a  revolu- 
tion began  in  Hamburg  which  soon  spread  over  Ger- 
many. On  November  yth  the  British  troops  entered 

1  Five  thousand  guns  and  30,000  machine  guns,  5,000  locomotives, 
22  big  ships,  and  50  destroyers. 


284  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Valenciennes:  on  the  8th  Prince  Max  resigned  and  was 
succeeded  by  Herr  Ebert.  On  the  9th  the  Kaiser  ab- 
dicated and  fled  into  Holland.  On  that  day  the  Ger- 
man envoys  were  received  by  Foch  at  his  headquarters 
and  the  new  German  Republic  accepted  the  terms  of 
Armistice.  On  the  morning  of  the  I  ith  the  Canadians 
entered  Mons,  that  little  town  where  firing  had  opened 
more  than  four  years  before,  and  precisely  at  1 1  o'clock 
on  that  very  morning  the  Armistice  began.  There  was 
a  sudden  stillness  from  the  North  Sea  to  the  frontier 
of  Switzerland. 

"Germany  is  doomed!"  cried  Mr.  Lloyd  George, 
speaking  at  the  Mansion  House  on  November  9th; 
and  he  proved  a  true  prophet. 

The  Allies  had  won  the  war.  .  .  . 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE 

"War  or  peace,  or  both  at  once." 

SHAKESPEARE'S  Henry  IV,  Act  V,  Sc.  ii. 

THE  colossal  strain  of  the  last  year  of  the  Great 
War  left  both  Ministers  and  peoples  of  the  conquering 
Allies  in  a  state  of  profound  exhaustion.  So  near  had 
been  the  peril  of  defeat  that  for  a  time  it  was  scarcely 
possible  to  realise  the  fact  of  victory.  For  the  first 
two  weeks  after  the  Armistice  of  November  nth, 
1918,  London,  Paris,  and  New  York  were  given  over 
to  a  delirium  of  rejoicing  such  as  the  world  never  be- 
fore witnessed.  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  speaking  from  the 
windows  of  Downing  Street  on  the  day  of  the  Armis- 
tice, told  the  people  plainly  that  they  had  a  right  to 
rejoice.  He  rejoiced  with  them. 

But  gradually,  as  the  days  passed,  the  world  woke 
to  the  fact  that  the  Armistice  was  only  the  opening 
of  a  new  phase  in  the  crisis  of  change.  The  Armistice 
terms  imposed  on  Germany  by  the  Allies  had  left  her 
prone  and  helpless.  She  could  not  resume  the  fighting. 
Both  the  Central  Empires  were  beaten  and  broken. 
The  Emperors  and  the  Kings  were  in  flight.  But  the 
world  could  not  be  left  to  live  in  a  vacuum.  Desolation 
is  not  peace.  Europe  was  like  a  shattered  puzzle  which 
had  to  be  pieced  together  again  before  humanity  could 

285 


286  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

resume  irs  normal  life.  It  was  urgent  that  a  Confer- 
ence should  be  summoned  speedily  both  to  make  peace 
and  to  settle  the  future  governance  of  the  world. 

There  were  some  necessary  delays.  President  Wil- 
son came  swiftly  to  Europe;  but  before  attending  the 
Conference  he  wished  to  consult  the  Governments  of 
the  Allies  and  to  visit  their  capitals.  He  arrived  in 
Paris  on  December  I3th,  and  visited  both  Rome  and 
London.  His  presence  was  acclaimed  everywhere  by 
enthusiastic  multitudes,  possessed  by  a  great  hope  that 
the  New  World  had  truly  come  to  redress  the  balance 
of  the  Old. 

There  was  also  the  British  General  Election,  which 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  deemed  necessary  to  confirm  and 
strengthen  his  position  at  the  Conference  as  spokesman 
for  Great  Britain.  No  time  was  lost.  The  General 
Election  was  announced  immediately  after  the  Armis- 
tice. Nominations  were  taken  on  December  4th  after 
a  very  brief  election  campaign;  the  polls  were  held 
on  one  day,  December  I4th,  under  the  new  electoral 
arrangements;  and  the  results  were  declared  on  De- 
cember 28th.  The  result  was  an  overwhelming  vote 
for  Mr.  Lloyd  George  as  the  British  representative  at 
the  Conference,  and  as  the  mandatory  of  a  strong  and 
decisive  peace.1 

There  was  some  preliminary  debate  as  to  the  city 
that  should  be  chosen  for  the  Conference.  President 
Wilson  and  Mr.  Lloyd  George  were  at  first  disposed  to 
choose  a  neutral  capital;  but  the  claims  of  France  were 
strong.  She  had  borne  the  territorial  brunt  of  the  war. 
So  it  was  agreed  that  the  Conference  should  meet  in 
Paris  at  first,  with  the  reservation  that  they  should 

1  For   further   particulars   of   the  election   see   Chapter  XXIV. 


THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE  287 

afterwards  shift  to  Geneva.  But  once  the  huge  ma- 
chine of  counsel  was  settled  in  Paris  it  was  found  im- 
possible to  move  it.  In  spite  of  the  preponderant 
power  thus  given  to  the  pressure  of  the  French  Press, 
it  is  difficult  to  see  now  how  any  other  capital  could  have 
been  chosen. 

The  burden  of  British  responsibility  was  far  too 
heavy  for  the  Prime  Minister  to  bear  alone.  He  de- 
cided to  share  it,  as  far  as  possible,  with  his  whole 
Ministry  and  Government;  and  the  result  was  that  the 
fashioning  of  the  Peace  by  Great  Britain  was  far  less 
of  a  personal  affair  than  in  any  other  of  the  victorious 
countries.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  took  with  him  to  Paris, 
as  joint  delegates,  Mr.  Bonar  Law,  Mr.  Balfour,  Lord 
Milner,  and  Mr.  Barnes.  Mr.  Bonar  Law,  being 
leader  of  the  House  of  Commons,  was  soon  compelled 
to  return  to  his  duties  in  England;  but  he  flew  over  to 
Paris  at  every  serious  crisis  in  the  discussions.  Mr. 
Balfour  and  Mr.  Barnes  remained  all  the  time,  and 
performed  great  services.  Lord  Milner  went  over 
when  colonial  affairs  required  his  counsel  and  decision; 
and  Mr.  Montagu  attended  for  Indian  matters.  But 
Ministers  from  all  Departments  attended  in  Paris 
whenever  their  advice  was  required;  on  critical  occa- 
sions Mr.  Lloyd  George  summoned  meetings  of  the 
War  Cabinet  so  that  his  decisions  might  have  the  full 
weight  of  the  Coalition  behind  them.1 

But  besides  the  men  of  Great  Britain  the  men  of  the 
Dominions  were  there  too.  The  whole  weight  of  the 
British  Empire  was  behind  the  decision  of  the  British 

1  President  Wilson  brought  with  him  four  delegates,  including 
Secretary  Lansing,  Colonel  House,  and  one  Republican,  Mr.  Henry 
White.  M.  Clemenceau  was  supported  by  General  Foch,  M.  Pichon, 
M.  Tardieu,  and  M.  Loucheur. 


288  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Delegations.  Each  Dominion  sent  two  delegates,  one 
of  whom  in  every  case  was  the  Prime  Minister.  The 
British  Empire  Delegation  sat  every  day,  and  consid- 
ered every  big  decision ;  their  secretary  was  a  member 
of  the  Secretariat  oT  the  Peace  Conference;  powerful 
men  like  Mr.  Hughes,  Mr.  Robert  Borden  and  Gen- 
eral Botha  had  their  say  through  this  channel;  and 
thus  the  whole  Empire  was  kept  in  touch.  There  was 
here  the  beginning  of  a  new  Imperial  organisation. 

Behind  all  these  leaders  stood  the  great  body  of 
British  officials;  cool,  experienced,  industrious,  alert, 
no  body  of  men  in  that  great  crisis  served  their  country 
better. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Conference  was  held  on 
January  i8th,  1919,  at  the  Palace  of  Versailles,  and 
was  an  impressive  gathering  of  the  representatives  of 
all  the  thirty  Allied  Nations  who  had  taken  part  in  the 
defeat  of  Germany.  But  as  soon  as  vital  decisions 
were  approached  it  became  obvious  that  it  would  be 
necessary  to  narrow  the  Council-chamber  and  to  throw 
a  veil  over  their  debates.  There  was  much  inflammable 
stuff  lying  about,  explosive  national  hopes  and  greeds, 
incredible  aspirations  after  greatness.  There  were 
Caesars  and  Malvolios  among  the  Powers,  both  great 
and  little.  If  the  discussions  had  been  published,  great 
popular  emotions  would  have  been  roused,  hatreds 
stimulated,  passions  excited.  The  Conference  might 
not  have  lasted  a  week.  No  sane  advocate  of  "open 
diplomacy"  will  ever  exclude  the  right  of  private  de- 
bate. 

The  world  watched  impatiently  while  the  inner  Coun- 
cil was  gradually  narrowed  from  ten  to  five,  from  five 
to  four,  and  finally,  after  Italy's  withdrawal,  from 


THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE  289 

four  to  three.  There  was  something  of  a  sneer  in  the 
adjective  applied— "The  Big  Five,"  "The  Big  Four," 
and  the  "Big  Three."  And  yet  the  narrowing  of  the 
number  was  absolutely  necessary  for  decision.  Slow 
as  decision  was,  it  would  have  been  far  slower  in  a 
larger  Council.  It  was  vital  that  those  who  debated 
should  keep  confidence,  and  should  be  able  to  decide. 
With  ten  it  was  found  that  no  secrets  could  be  kept. 
With  four  confidence  was  easier,  and  decisions  were 
possible. 

The  defects  of  this  narrowing  of  the  Council-cham- 
ber are  painfully  obvious.  The  arguments  which  led  to 
decisions  were  known  only  to  a  few.  Minutes  were 
kept  by  the  Secretary,  Sir  Maurice  Hankey,  and  were 
distributed  to  the  ten,  five,  four  or  three.  But  the 
world  outside  was  fed  on  gossip,  and  mostly  malicious 
gossip.  The  great  concourse  of  able  writers  who  had 
journeyed  to  Paris  from  all  countries  looked  up,  but 
could  not  be  adequately  fed.  They  became  angry 
and  irritated.  They  spread  their  spleen  against  the 
Conference  through  a  thousand  conduits,  daily  and 
weekly,  and  ultimately  through  a  vast  and  growing 
literature  of  discontent.  It  is  notable  that  the  books 
published  about  the  Conference  since  its  close  have  been 
almost  unanimous  in  their  bitter  scorn  and  condemna- 
tion.1 

The  Peace  Treaty  emerged  with  few  friends  and 
many  enemies.  That  is  the  chief  danger  to  its  vitality 
and  permanence. 

1  See,  for  instance,  Dr.  Dillon's  very  able  book  The  Peace  Con- 
ference (Hutchinson  &  Co:  London),  Peace  Making  in  Paris,  by 
Sisley  Huddleston  (Fisher  Unwin:  London),  The  Peace  in  the  Making, 
by  H.  Wilson  Harris  (The  Swarthmore  Press:  London),  and  The 
Economic  Consequences  of  the  Peace,  by  John  Maynard  Keynes,  C.B. 
(Macmillan  &  Co.,  London.) 


290  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

At  the  foot  of  the  Falls  of  Niagara  there  eddies  a 
gigantic  whirlpool  round  which  objects  are  driven  in 
endless  fury,  the  prey  of  conflicting  currents,  tossed  to 
and  fro  by  buffeting  waves,  now  hurled  to  the  surface 
and  then  sucked  down  into  the  depths  by  irresistible 
forces.  In  that  whirlpool  guidance  is  nearly  impossible. 
Man  himself  becomes  a  helpless  victim;  only  by  yield- 
ing could  he  survive.  Resistance  to  such  powers  only 
increases  the  peril. 

So  it  was  at  Paris  in  1919.  The  Great  War  had 
been  the  Falls  of  Niagara;  the  Conference  was  the 
whirlpool.  In  that  tumult  of  waters  it  was  a  miracle 
to  survive  at  all,  much  less  to  achieve  mastery.  Not 
since  Phaethon  strove  to  drive  the  horses  of  the  sun 
had  any  human  being  faced  a  greater  task  than  the 
three  men  who  emerged  as  the  leaders  in  this  vast  event 
— Mr.  Lloyd  George,  President  Wilson,  and  M.  Cle- 
menceau.  No  man  who  has  looked  closely  into  their 
work  will  be  inclined  to  judge  swiftly  or  harshly.  It 
was  a  burden  too  great  for  human  shoulders.  After 
six  months  of  it  Mr.  Lloyd  George  returned  to  London 
whitened  and  lined,  looking  to  his  friends  as  if  ten 
years  had  been  added  to  his  age. 

But  he  fared  far  better  than  his  colleagues.  Presi- 
dent Wilson  returned  to  collapse  into  a  grave  illness. 
M.  Clemenceau,  the  invincible  "Tiger,"  the  "Young 
old  Man,"  continues  his  intrepid  existence — but  now 
retired — with  a  bullet  in  his  back.  Botha  returned  to 
South  Africa  to  die. 

They  all  worked  terribly  hard,  both  by  day  and  by 
night.  They  sat  in  council  for  two  and  a  half  hours 
in  the  mornings  and  two  and  a  half  hours  again  in  the 
afternoons.  They  went  out  little  into  society.  In  the 


THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE  291 

evenrngs  they  read  their  piles  of  documents  or  saw 
important  witnesses. 

Yet  no  one  was  satisfied.    What  is  the  reason? 

The  chief  reason  is  that  the  Conference  worked 
throughout  by  process  of  compromise :  and  compromise 
has  no  lovers.  It  was  in  the  main  a  compromise  be- 
tween three  points  of  vie\^ — the  French,  the  American, 
and  the  British.  Hateful  to  strenuous  souls !  To 
yield  nothing  and  to  gain  everything  is  to  them  the  only 
statesmanship.  But  let  us  remember  the  other  side. 
The  war  was  not  won  alone;  the  peace  could  not  be 
made  alone.  The  armies  had  to  combine  for  victory; 
the  peace  had  to  be  combined  too.  No  Great  Power 
could  have  a  peace  entirely  of  its  own,  either  in  ma- 
terial gain  or  ideal  aims. 

The  American  aim,  as  shaped  by  their  remarkable 
President  and  voiced  in  his  splendid  oratory,  was  for 
a  peace  of  final  world-conciliation.1  He  held  up  the 
"banner  of  the  ideal."  The  French  aim  was  a  peace 
of  security.  The  British  aim  lay  somewhere  between 
the  two,  a  practical  peace  combining  conciliation  and 
security,  punishing  Germany  without  crushing  it,  im- 
proving the  world  but  not  seeking  all  at  once  to  achieve 
the  Millennium. 

Clemenceau  was  an  honest  nationalist.  But  he  did 
not  seek  so  much  to  exalt  France  as  to  depress  Ger- 
many. The  idea  of  Foch  was  to  stand  guard  over 
Germany  with  a  flaming  sword.  The  aim  of  the 
French  Chauvinists  was  to  break  Germany  up  and  dis- 
able her  permanently.  Clemenceau  did  not  share  these 
extreme  views.  He  rebuked  Foch  for  the  interview  in 
which  he  claimed  that  Germany  should  retire  beyond 

1  See  Appendix  D. 


292  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

the  Rhine.  He  was  too  much  of  a  statesman  to  believe 
that  a  modern  nation  could  be  permanently  crushed. 
But  he  sought  to  weaken  her  to  the  ground  for  the 
next  fifty  years;  and  then  he  hoped  for  security  in  the 
new  Alliance  with  America  and  Great  Britain. 

The  part  that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  played  at  Paris 
during  those  strenuous  months  was  often  that  of  con- 
ciliator between  these  two  points  of  view — the  French 
and  the  American.  Such  a  conciliator  was  wanted: 
for  the  clash  could  not  be  concealed.  "President  Wil- 
son has  Fourteen  Points,"  mocked  Clemenceau;  "the 
good  God  was  content  with  Ten."  "Every  morning," 
he  said  on  another  occasion,  "I  repeat  to  myself — 'I 
believe  in  the  League  of  Nations!'  "  l  It  was  difficult 
to  achieve  harmony  between  such  a  spirit  and  the  lofty 
faith  and  austere  hopes  of  the  great  Crusader  from 
across  the  seas. 

Here  came  in  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  characteristic 
qualities — his  genius  for  compromise,  his  twinkling 
good  humour,  his  amazing  capacity  for  finding  a  middle 
way  between  different  points  of  view.  Again  and 
again,  when  matters  seemed  at  a  deadlock — on  the  Saar 
Valley,  the  Polish  Corridor,  or  even  the  perplexing 
question  of  Fiume — Mr.  Lloyd  George  achieved,  or 
nearly  achieved,  a  settlement.  It  is  scarcely  too  much 
to  say  that  without  him  the  Conference  would  have 
inevitably  broken  down,  and  one  of  the  other  two 
would  have  flung  out  of  the  Conference  like  Signor 
Orlando. 

But  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  not  only  a  conciliator — 

1  Some  of  these  reported  speeches  are  even  more  mordant,  as 
for  instance — "President  Wilson  talks  like  the  good  Christ,  but 
acts  like  Lloyd  George." 


THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE  293 

not  merely  the  middle  figure.  He  had  a  very  definite 
view  of  his  own  as  to  the  right  peace  to  aim  at.  He 
was  the  first  to  formulate  a  peace ;  the  first  to  insist  on 
a  decision.  He  was  out  for  a  peace  stern  but  just.  On 
Dantzig  he  took  the  initiative  for  moderation.  He  in- 
sisted on  a  settlement  that  would  not  create  a  new 
Baltic  question.  He  was  against  Poland  annexing  a 
city  of  Germans — against  it  also  for  the  sake  of  Po- 
land. "We  must  set  up  a  Poland  that  can  live,"  he 
would  say.  "If  swollen  by  enemy  populations  she  will 
explode  from  within.  Dantzig  is  outside  the  real 
orbit  of  Poland.  Make  it  International."  President 
Wilson  supported  him;  M.  Clemenceau  was  persuaded; 
and  Mr.  Lloyd  George  got  his  way. 

Poland  had  good  friends  at  the  Conference.  Not 
only  was  it  the  policy  of  France  to  aggrandise  Poland 
as  a  substitute  for  Russia,  but  President  Wilson  was 
enthusiastically  pro-Polish.  On  the  general  issue  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  was  entirely  with  them.  He  wished 
Poland  to  flourish  as  a  self-governing  State,  but  not  to 
enter  on  its  existence  by  inflicting  on  others  the  crime 
of  Partition  from  which  it  had  so  deeply  suffered  itself. 
For  that  reason,  in  the  last  stage,  he  took  a  strong 
solitary  line  on  the  demand  for  a  plebiscite  that  came 
from  Silesia.  The  whole  British  Cabinet  supported 
him,  and  there  again  in  the  end  he  achieved  his  pur- 
pose. 

But  on  other  matters  the  combination  varied:  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  sometimes  took  a  sterner  line  than  the 
other  two.  He  was  always  for  the  trial  of  the  Kaiser, 
as  a  supreme  lesson  to  rulers.  President  Wilson  op- 
posed; M.  Clemenceau  was  indifferent;  Venizelos  was 
opposed.  But  Mr.  Lloyd  George  insisted,  and  per- 


294  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

suaded  them  to  agree  to  London  as  the  place  of 
trial. 

On  the  Rhine  question  and  the  Saar  Valley  he  sup- 
ported President  Wilson  in  opposing  the  extreme 
French  claims,  and  finally  achieved  the  compromise  in- 
serted in  the  Peace  Treaty.1  He  opposed  the  French 
proposals  to  separate  the  Rhine  Provinces  from  Ger- 
many and  occupy  in  permanence  the  bridge-heads.  He 
looked  far  ahead.  "See  here,"  he  said  to  the  French, 
"you  will  create  another  Alsace-Lorraine:  you  will 
give  Germany  a  great  cause." 

He  saw  in  such  proposals  the  certain  seeds  of  future 
wars,  and  wars  to  which  he  could  not  summon  the 
youth  of  Great  Britain.  For  he  kept  clearly  in  view 
that,  under  the  League  of  Nations  settlement,  we,  as  a 
contracting  party,  might  be  called  upon  (under  Clause 
10)  to  defend  with  arms  any  detail  of  the  settlement. 
It  was  always  his  aim  to  keep  British  obligations  within 
the  limits  of  the  powers  of  the  British  Empire. 

He  supported  President  Wilson  in  the  difference  with 
Italy  over  Fiume,  and  Clemenceau  supported  both. 
But  he  always  hoped  to  effect  a  settlement  by  persua- 
sion. When  President  Wilson  had  made  up  his  mind 
to  issue  an  appeal  to  the  Italian  nation,  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  persuaded  him  to  agree  to  a  postponement  of 
twenty-four  hours.  President  Wilson  kept  precisely  to 
his  promise.  But  it  unfortunately  happened  that,  just 
as  the  twenty-four  hours  expired,  delicate  negotiations 
were  proceeding  between  Orlando  and  Mr.  Lloyd 

aThe  Saar  Valley  was  finally  given  to  the  League  of  Nations  for 
fifteen  years,  giving  the  French  the  output  of  the  mines.  At  the  close 
of  that  period  there  is  to  be  a  plebiscite,  but  if  the  vote  goes  in 
favour  of  Germany  the  mines  must  be  bought  back  by  Germany 
from  France. 


THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE  295 

George,  and  there  were  still  hopes  of  a  settlement. 
The  appeal  was  published  in  the  afternoon  papers  of 
Paris,  and  its  immediate  effects  were  to  offend  the 
Italian  delegates,  throw  them  back  on  to  the  point  of 
honour,  and  drive  them  out  of  the  Peace  Conference. 
President  Wilson  acted -with  his  usual  high  and  simple 
honesty;  but  in  this  case,  at  any  rate,  if  the  aim  was 
peace,  open  diplomacy  did  not  score  a  conspicuous 
triumph. 

In  regard  to  Russia,  there  also  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
always  craved  for  a  settlement  as  part  of  the  new 
peace  of  the  world.  This  was  not  his  second,  but  his 
first  thought.  He  started  instantly  after  the  Armistice 
with  the  idea  of  a  joint  meeting  between  the  Russian 
parties.  His  first  proposal  was  that  they  should  meet 
at  Paris;  and  this  was  laid  before  the  Allied  Chiefs 
early  in  the  Peace  Conference,  in  a  conversation  held 
at  the  French  Foreign  Office  on  Tuesday,  January  2ist, 
19 19.*  The  French  Premier  objected  to  the  presence 
of  the  Bolshevists  of  Paris  as  a  danger  to  French  so- 
ciety. Mr.  Lloyd  George  then  proposed  Salonika  or 
Lemnos,  as  easily  accessible  from  Russia.  It  was  as 
the  afterthought  of  an  official  that  the  island  of  Prin- 
kipos  was  suggested;  perhaps  it  was  a  measure  of  the 
fear  of  Bolshevism  already  existing  among  the  Govern- 
ments of  Western  Europe.  The  appeal  to  the  Russian 
parties  was  issued  as  a  result  of  this  meeting  of  Janu- 
ary 2 1  st.  We  all  know  how  it  failed.  It  withered 
from  sheer  lack  of  support.  The  Bolshevists  refused 

1  See  pp.  1240-2  of  the  Bullitt  evidence:  "Hearings  before  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  United  States  Senate,"  vol,  ii. 
The  minutes  of  the  meeting  are  given.  I  give  them  in  full  in  Appen- 
dix C  in  order  to  show  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  point  of  view  at  this 
time 


296  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

to  stop  fighting.  The  Russian  "loyalists,"  already  di- 
vided from  the  Bolshevist  rule  by  gulfs  of  hatred  and 
terror,  rejected  the  very  idea  of  a  meeting.  The  French 
official  class,  always  very  powerful,  was  openly  hos- 
tile, and  actively  worked  against  the  proposal.  The 
propertied  classes  in  Great  Britain,  supported  by  a 
powerful  Press,  denounced  and  ridiculed  the  whole 
policy.  The  time  expired  for  the  meeting;  and  the 
policy  expired  too. 

Then  in  February  came  the  Bullitt  Mission  originally 
devised  as  a  "feeler"  by  Colonel  House.  Mr.  Bullitt 
went  to  Russia  and  experienced  one  of  those  astounding 
conversions  which  the  leading  Bolshevists,  by  showing 
only  their  better  side,  seem  capable  of  producing.  The 
American  Delegation  asked  Mr.  Lloyd  George  to  see 
Mr.  Bullitt;  and,  with  his  usual  accessibility,  he  invited 
the  young  American  to  breakfast.  The  proposal 
brought  by  Mr.  Bullitt  was  not  an  offer  from  the  Bol- 
shevists, but  the  suggestion  of  an  offer  by  the  Allies 
— a  very  different  affair.1  President  Wilson  himself 
refused  to  meet  Mr.  Bullitt,  a  course  which  seems  to 
gather  some  justification  from  Mr.  Bullitt's  subsequent 
proceedings  in  America.  But  the  proposals  embodied 
in  the  Bolshevist  memorandum  were  not  such  as,  at  this 
time  at  any  rate,  had  any  chance  of  serious  considera- 
tion. The  mere  proposal  to  take  the  whole  matter 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  Peace  Conference  was  not  cal- 
culated to  conciliate  that  body.2 

1  See  Mr.  Bullitt's  statement  to  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Relations, 
United  States  Senate.  "The  Soviets  undertook  to  accept  proposals 
if  made  by  the  Allies  not  later  than  April  loth,  1919"  (Hearings 
before  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  vol.  ii.  p.  1248).  The 
proposals  were  not  written  down  by  the  Bolshevists  but  conveyed 
through  Mr.  Bullitt,  who  placed  them  on  record. 

'  See  Mr.  Bullitt's  evidence,  Hearings  Before   the   Committtee   on 


THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE  297 

Then  in  April  came  the  Nansen  episode,  which 
turned  out,  in  Mr.  Bullitt's  adroit  hands,  to  be  yet 
another  effort  to  renew  the  peace  negotiations  of 
February.  The  gulf  still  proved  impassable.  The 
Allies  would  not  authorise  Nansen  to  undertake  his 
intrepid  and  humane  adventure  without  the  power  to 
distribute  food  and  control  the  Russian  railways:  and 
the  Bolshevists  would  on  no  account  agree  to  that 
course.  Neither  side  trusted  one  another.  A  civil  war 
was  raging,  and  the  issue  was  still  undecided.  Neither 
side  would  give  way;  and  once  more  the  time  limit 
expired.1 

Still  eager  to  attain  peace  in  Russia,  and  finding  that 
the  hope  of  conciliation  was  vain,  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
now  swung  over  to  the  policy  of  helping  Admiral  Kolt- 
chak  and  General  Denikin  on  the  condition  of  obtain- 
ing democratic  and  constitutional  guarantees.  The 
guarantees  were  given,  and  seemed  favourable.  Help 
was  sent.  But  there  was  one  point  on  which  the 
"White"  Russians  would  make  no  concessions — the  in- 
dependence of  the  Border  States.  We  all  know  how 
since  on  that  rock  of  adventures  of  the  "White"  Rus- 
sians have  shipwrecked ;  and  so  the  hopes  of  the  Allies 
have  been  disastrously  thwarted.  It  seems  at  the  pres- 
ent moment  as  if  an  immense  mass  of  human  suffering 
might  have  been  averted  if  the  original  policy  of  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  in  January-February  of  1919  had  re- 
ceived reasonable  and  friendly  consideration  in  London 
and  in  Paris. 

Foreign  Relations,  United  States  Senate,  vol.  ii.  p.  1246.  Mr.  Bullitt's 
account  of  the  conditions  prevailing  in  Russia  did  not,  of  course, 
tally  with  other  and  more  responsible  evidence. 

1  See  Mr.  Bullitt's  evidence,  Hearings  Before  the  Committee  on 
Foreign  Relations,  United  States  Senate,  vol.  ii.  pp.  1264-71,  for  full 
details. 


298  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

In  regard  to  the  League  of  Nations,  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  was  never  the  prime  mover,  but  always  a  faith- 
ful follower  of  President  Wilson.  Thus  it  was  that 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  never  framed  a  scheme,  but  took 
the  schemes  of  others  as  the  basis  for  his  advice  and 
counsel.  He  profoundly  believed  in  the  League  of  Na- 
tions as  the  only  way  out  for  the  human  race.  But  he 
had  not  a  very  deep  faith  in  schemes  or  constitutions. 
His  idea  was  rather,  in  the  good  old  British  way,  to 
evolve  a  League  from  the  Peace  Conference.  He  had 
in  mind  the  precedent  of  the  Imperial  Conference,  and 
he  believed  that  periodical  meetings  of  the  Peace  Con- 
ference, gradually  including  nations  at  first  excluded, 
would  lead  to  a  slow  growth  of  understanding  between 
nations  now  too  ardent  for  sovereignty  to  be  affected 
by  any  decisions  from  Paris  or  Geneva. 

President  Wilson  brought  to  Paris  a  scheme  which 
he  had  already  worked  out.  He  had  based  it  on  the 
Phillimore  Report  amended  by  Colonel  House,  and 
rewritten  by  himself.1  He  then  read  General  Smuts's 
remarkable  memorandum,  and  revised  his  scheme 
again.  That  scheme  was  considered  at  an  early  meet- 
ing of  the  Conference  and  referred  to  a  League  of 
Nations  Committee.  President  Wilson  himself  sat 
on  the  Committee  along  with  Mr.  Lansing,  thus  giving 
up  to  the  creation  of  the  Covenant  a  large  part  of  his 
great  energies  and  genius.  Lord  Robert  Cecil  was 
placed  on  the  Committee  as  the  British  Representative 
by  Mr.  Balfour,  and  we  know  what  a  great  part  he 
played.  Lord  Robert  was  in  frequent  consultation  with 

*See  President  Wilson's  first  scheme  in  the  Bullitt  evidence.  At 
the  end  of  it  nothing  remained  but  a  few  clauses  (Hearings  before 
the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  United  States  Senate,  vol.  ii). 


THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE  299 

Mr.  Lloyd  George,  who  always  kept  in  close  touch 
with  the  drafting  of  the  Covenant,  and  made  many 
suggestions.  When  the  Covenant  was  in  danger,  he 
supported  President  Wilson  on  his  return  from  Amer- 
ica in  his  insistence  that  it  should  be  made  part  of  the 
Treaty.  Still,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  perhaps  never  shook 
off  his  instinctive  feeling  that  there  was  an  element  of 
unreality  in  the  drafting  of  a  set  constitution  for  the 
League.  He  doubted  whether  the  intense  patriotism 
created  by  the  war  could  at  once  be  poured,  glowing 
hot,  into  the  mould  of  a  new  international  discipline. 
The  action  of  Italy,  and  still  more  of  the  United 
States  itself,  seems  since  to  have  given  some  confirma- 
tion to  his  view. 

Throughout  all  these  discussions  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
and  President  Wilson  remained  close  friends.  They 
were  really  kindred  spirits,  with  the  difference  that  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  had  a  longer  experience  of  politics  and 
diplomacy  in  the  ruse  old  Europe.  But  both  came  from 
Puritan  stock,  and  the  high  idealism  and  noble  integ- 
rity of  President  Wilson's  character  must  have  often 
recalled  to  Mr.  Lloyd  George  that  splendid  uncle  who 
had  taught  and  nurtured  him.  Of  their  relationships 
it  may  be  said,  as  of  Carlyle  and  Sterling,  that  they 
always  ended  their  discussions  friends — "except  in 
opinion  not  disagreeing." 

No  two  honest  men,  indeed,  could  expect  to  agree 
on  all  the  questions  raised  at  this  multifarious  Con- 
ference. Take  the  problems  of  the  Near  East.  There 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  very  strongly  took  the  view  that  the 
Turks  had  forfeited  the  right  to  rule  over  Christians. 
He  was  always  disposed  to  look  to  the  great  Prime 


300  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Minister,  Venizelos,  as  the  prop  of  the  Alliance  in 
the  Eastern  Mediterranean.  That  made  him  lean  to 
the  Greeks.  M.  Clemenceau  followed  the  traditional 
policy  of  the  Qua!  D'Orsay  in  its  leniency  towards  the 
Turks.  President  Wilson,  perhaps  influenced  by  the 
American  professors  of  the  Roberts  College  at  Con- 
stantinople, was  disposed  to  advocate  clemency  to  Bul- 
garia. This  is  an  instance  of  minor  differences  which 
never  threatened  cleavage,  but  harassed  and  delayed 
the  proceedings  of  the  Conference.  For  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  was  never  inclined  to  neglect  the  Near  East. 
There  was  the  home  and  cradle  of  those  little  nations 
in  whose  destiny  he  so  profoundly  believed. 

There  were  crises  in  the  Conference  when  he  boldly 
acknowledged  that  he  had  been  wrong.  Such  a  mo- 
ment came  when,  in  April,  he  was  challenged  on  the 
Indemnity  question  by  a  mandatory  telegram  from  200 
members  of  Parliament.  He  returned  and  faced  his 
critics  with  defiance.  "A  good  Peace,"  he  said,  "is 
better  than  a  good  Press."  He  had  discovered  in  Paris 
that  it  was  vain  to  hope  for  the  great  indemnities  from 
Germany  which  Great  Britain  deserved,  and  for  which 
he  himself  had  hoped.  He  faced  Parliament  with  reali- 
ties; and  Parliament  bowed  to  the  facts. 

Speaking  broadly,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  his  col- 
leagues followed  throughout  a  sound  British  tradition. 
Instinctively  they  were,  in  1919,  pursuing  in  Paris  the 
same  policy  that  Wellington  and  Castlereagh  pursued 
during  1815  in  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  and  the  Second 
Treaty  of  Paris  after  the  victory  of  Waterloo.  Just 
as  they  prevented  a  triumphant  Prussia  from  crushing 
France,  so  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  President  Wilson 


THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE  801 

prevented  a  triumphant  France  from  shattering  Ger- 
many to  atoms.1 

On  the  human  side,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  lived  in 
Paris  a  simple  and  homely  life.  He  occupied  a  modest 
flat  in  the  23  Rue  Nitot,  near  the  Arc  de  Triomphe,  in 
the  pleasant  neighbourhood  of  the  Champs  Elysees. 
European  observers  were  surprised  at  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  daily  life  of  the  British  Prime  Minister  and 
the  high  state  which  surrounded  the  American  Presi- 
dent, who  occupied  the  Villa  Murat  over  the  way.  But 
when  they  criticised  the  posting  of  sentries  both  inside 
and  outside  the  President's  house,  and  when  the  French 
people  objected  to  being  forbidden  to  walk  on  the 
American  side  of  their  own  beloved  Parisian  street, 
they  perhaps  forgot  that  President  Wilson  stood  in  the 
place  of  Royalty  as  the  sovereign  head  of  the  country 
for  which  he  spoke. 

The  French,  with  their  genius  for  affability,  pre- 
ferred the  easy  ways  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George  with  his 
love  for  their  cafe  life  and  their  restaurants,  and  his 
general  sociability.  He  was  often  received  in  the  cafes 
and  theatres  with  an  almost  embarrassing  friendliness 
and  respect,  and  sometimes  the  audience  would  rise  and 
sing  "God  Save  the  King."  At  one  cafe  in  the  Champs 
Elysees  the  orchestra  knew  so  well  his  passion  for  the 
"Sambre  et  Meuse"  march,  that  they  would  play  it 
whenever  he  entered  without  waiting  for  his  request. 
He  was,  as  ever,  kindly  to  the  journalists,  and  would, 
whenever  possible,  take  a  cup  of  tea  with  them  at  the 
Hotel  Majestic — humorously  renamed  "Megantic," 

1  In  framing  the  Second  Treaty  of  Paris  signed  on  November 
aoth,  1815,  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  Wellington  and 
Castlereagh  prevented  the  Prussian  and  Austrian  representatives 
from  annexing  Alsace-Lorraine. 


302  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

after  his  daughter.  On  Saturdays  it  was  the  pleasant 
custom  of  the  British  exiles  to  hold  dances  at  this 
hotel,  and  Mr.  Lloyd  George  would  often  look  in  and 
watch  the  dancing.  He  loved  to  see  his  youngest 
daughter  Megan  and  his  son  Gwylem  enjoying  them- 
selves at  these  democratic  dances,  to  which  only  an 
Arctic  prudery  could  find  any  objection.  On  Sundays 
he  would  often  go  touring  in  his  motor-car  through  the 
devastated  areas  of  France,  in  company  with  the  gen- 
eral who  commanded  that  part  of  the  battle-field.  In 
this  way  he  visited  most  of  the  Western  Front  and  had 
the  chief  battles  reconstructed  for  him.  He  paid  a 
special  visit  to  Verdun,  penetrated  the  forts  where  the 
blood-stains  are  still  on  the  walls,  and  lunched  in  the 
Citadelle.  All  these  things  made  him  popular  in 
France. 

On  most  week-days  he  refused  to  go  out  in  the 
evenings,  retiring  early,  but  not  always  to  rest.  He 
kept  to  his  habit  of  holding  his  hospitable  and  homely 
breakfasts.  He  would  sometimes  take  a  Sunday  off 
for  a  motor-drive  to  Fontainebleau  with  his  friends. 
On  such  occasions  he  would  talk  no  politics,  but  would 
indulge  that  precious  capacity  of  gay  and  happy  recrea- 
tion which  has  so  often  been  his  salvation. 

The  negotiations,  after  long  delay,  ended  with  a 
final  speed-up.  President  Wilson,  on  his  return  from 
his  visit  to  America  in  February,  insisted  on  the  inclu- 
sion of  the  League  of  Nations  in  the  Peace  Treaty, 
and  there  was  a  rapid  process  of  redrafting.  On  May 
6th  the  draft  was  completed,  and  it  was  presented  at 
Versailles  to  the  German  Foreign  Minister,  Count 
Brockdorff-Rantzau  on  May  yth.  There  followed  six 
weeks  of  parley  with  Germany,  which  led  to  some  im- 


THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE  803 

portant  modifications  in  regard  to  the  Saar  Valley,  the 
Polish  Corridor,  and  Silesia.  During  this  final  crisis 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  played  the  part  of  a  bold  and  fear- 
less conciliator:  and  he  tried  in  every  permissible  way 
to  make  the  peace  possible  for  Germany's  acceptance. 
President  Wilson,  on  the  other  hand,  hardened,  and 
took  the  view  that  he  was  pledged  to  support  the 
Treaty  as  now  framed.  But  Mr.  Lloyd  George  gained 
some  important  points,  and  by  softening  the  terms  cer- 
tainly added  to  the  hope  of  future  peace  in  Europe. 

On  June  22nd  the  German  Assembly  ratified  the 
Treaty,  and  on  June  29th  it  was  signed  at  Versailles 
by  the  German  envoys.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  returned 
to  England  and  eloquently  defended  the  Treaty  before 
Parliament,  which  unanimously  ratified  it  on  July  3rd. 

As  far  as  Great  Britain  was  concerned,  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  had  now  achieved  peace. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  NEW  WORLD 

"With  malice  towards  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with  firm- 
ness in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive 
on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in:  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds; 
to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his 
widow  and  his  orphan ;  to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and  cherish 
a  just  and  lasting  peace,  among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations." 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  March  4th,  1865. 

"I  DON'T  envy  the  men  who  have  to  govern  the 
world  after  the  war,"  said  M.  Clemenceau  to  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  on  one  occasion  in  Paris  during  the 
Peace  Conference.  His  instinct  proved  true.  For 
indeed  the  world,  both  abroad  and  in  these  islands,  has 
proved  far  less  tractable  since  the  guns  have  ceased 
to  fire.  There  has  been  less  killing,  but  more  quar- 
relling. Above  all,  there  has  been  a  great  increase  of 
civil  contention  within  the  nations,  from  the  extreme 
of  civil  savagery  that  has  swept  over  Russia  to  the 
more  moderate  party  contentions  which  have  divided 
and  weakened  American  effort,  and  which  have,  to  some 
extent,  distracted  this  country. 

From  the  very  beginning  Mr.  Lloyd  George  foresaw 
these  troubles,  and  decisively  made  up  his  mind  that, 
for  his  part,  he  would  work  to  prolong  the  national 
unity  achieved  during  the  war.  Since  November  nth, 
1918,  he  never  swerved  from  his  belief  that  the  coun- 
try could  not  afford  the  margin  of  effort  necessary  for 

304 


THE  NEW  WORLD  305 

party  contention.  Unity  has  seemed  to  him  as  neces- 
sary for  recovery  from  the  strife  as  it  was  for  the 
strife  itself. 

For,  consider  the  situation  as  it  presented  itself  to 
the  statesmen  on  the  morrow  of  the  Armistice.  In 
every  great  belligerent  European  country  trade  had 
been  entirely  dislocated  by  the  strain  of  the  war. 
Ploughshares  had  literally  been  turned  into  swords. 
Vast  workshops  had  been  diverted  to  war.  Huge  popu- 
lations of  men  and  women  had  been  shifted  to  muni- 
tion centres.  Now  gigantic  armies  of  soldiers  and 
workers  had  to  be  demobilised,  and  over  the  whole  sit- 
uation hung  the  peril  of  unemployment.  All  the  coun- 
tries were  exhausted,  physically  and  mentally;  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say  they  were  suffering  from  a  modified 
form  of  shell-shock.  In  every  great  community  there 
were  suppressed  labour  difficulties,  the  accumulation  of 
grievances  that  had  been  held  back  from  expression 
during  the  four  years  of  war.  Then,  underground  in 
both  France  and  Great  Britain,  there  were  the  fanatics 
of  Bolshevism,  working  like  moles  at  the  roots  of  so- 
ciety and  ready  to  take  advantage  of  every  possible 
emergency  to  forward  their  terrific  designs.  In  England 
the  very  police  had  been  shaken  in  their  discipline. 

Against  such  dangers  it  seemed  to  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
that  all  reasonable  men  should  combine  and  follow 
the  road  midway  between  "the  falsehood  of  extremes." 
He  was  himself  sometimes  tempted,  in  some  moods, 
to  agree  with  the  enemies  who  suggested  that  his  work 
was  done.  Both  for  him  and  M.  Clemenceau  the 
achievement  of  victory  seemed  to  mark  the  fitting  con- 
summation of  their  careers.  But  if  such  moods  came, 
they  soon  passed.  For  retirement  was  impossible.  -  It 


306  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

was  not  a  time  when  any  patriot  could  stand  aside. 
The  storm  was  coming,  and  it  was  necessary  to  ride  it. 
The  thought  of  retirement  never  seriously  presented 
itself  to  his  active  and  combative  mind. 

The  first  step  was  to  secure  a  new  mandate  from 
the  country  for  the  work  that  lay  before  him.  So  he 
decided  on  a  General  Election.1 

He  had  every  excuse  for  this  step  in  the  situation 
of  Parliament  at  that  moment.  The  old  Parliament 
which  saw  us  through  the  war  had  lasted  for  eight 
years,  although  its  statutory  existence  had  been  limited 
by  itself  to  five  years  under  the  Parliament  Act  of  1911. 
Five  times  the  War  Parliament  prolonged  its  own  life, 
a  process  quite  justifiable  during  the  stress  of  that 
mighty  struggle,  but  approaching  almost  to  a  scandal 
once  active  fighting  had  ceased.  That  Parliament 
lived  longer  than  any  of  its  forerunners  in  the  past 
century,  and,  having  been  elected  long  before  the  war, 
was  notably  in  many  respects  out  of  touch  and  tune  with 
the  war  feeling  of  the  country.  Many  of  its  members 
had  been  called  upon  to  resign  by  their  constituents, 
and  by  their  attitude  during  the  war  had  gravely  belied 
the  patriotic  unity  of  the  country.  That  was  not  all. 
A  great  measure  of  suffrage  reform,  far  and  away 
the  most  extensive  since  the  Reform  Act  of  1831,  had 
been  passed  into  law  in  February,  1918.  The  new 
register  had  been  completed  by  October  ist  and  con- 
tained two  and  a  half  times  as  many  electors  as  the 
register  compiled  before  the  war.  For  the  first  time 
women  had  the  vote,  and  the  same  right  had  been  ex- 
tended to  soldiers  on  active  service,  to  sailors,  mer- 
chantmen, and  fishermen  on  the  sea,  besides  a  vast 

*  See  Chapter  XXIII,  second  page. 


THE  NEW  WORLD  307 

population  of  new  home  voters.  These  were  the  peo- 
ple who  had  won  the  war.  It  seemed  only  fair  and 
just  that  they  should  have  a  voice  in  the  peace. 

It  has  always  been  the  fixed  constitutional  rule  in  this 
country  that  when  a  new  Reform  Act  has  created  a 
large  class  of  new  voters  the  old  Parliament  becomes 
obsolete.  That  was  the  rule  pursued  in  1831,  1868, 
and  1885,  and  there  seemed  the  more  and  not  the  less 
reason  why  at  this  crisis  the  country's  fate  it  should 
be  pursued  in  1918.  Nor  can  we  be  in  any  doubt  that 
if  Mr.  Lloyd  George  had  pursued  the  alternative  policy 
of  prolonging  the  life  of  the  old  Parliament  he  would 
have  been  equally  blamed. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  desired  to  carry  through  the  Gen- 
eral Election  with  as  little  party  contention  as  was  pos- 
sible, and  therefore  informal  approaches  were  made  to 
the  Independent  Liberals  during  the  autumn  with  a 
view  to  bringing  them  back  into  the  Coalition.  Those 
negotiations  broke  down,  not  on  any  material  difference 
of  political  opinion,  but  mainly  on  the  question  of  the 
date  of  the  General  Election.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  re- 
fused to  adopt,  as  a  governing  political  principle,  this 
new  reluctance  to  appeal  to  a  new  electorate.  With 
regret  he  found  himself  compelled  to  agree  to  a  division 
in  the  Liberal  Party  between  those  who  befriended  the 
Government  and  those  who  opposed  it,  and  it  is  notable 
that  he  carried  with  him  the  great  majority  of  the  old 
party.  Many  of  the  Coalition  Liberals  found,  when 
they  went  down  to  their  constituencies,  that  their  Lib- 
eral Associations  supported  them  with  a  practically 
unanimous  vote.  The  provinces  were  less  factious  than 
the  London  Clubs. 

The  Labour  Party  decided  to  leave  the  Coalition, 


308  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

to  which  they  had  adhered  since  December,  1916,  and 
to  fight  the  election  as  a  body  independent  of  all  other 
parties.  But  even  Labour  did  not  leave  the  Coalition 
as  a  whole  party,  for  in  the  process  they  became  divided 
into  several  sections,  and  some  of  the  ablest  members  of 
the  Labour  Party,  including  Mr.  G.  N.  Barnes  and  Mr. 
G.  H.  Roberts,  remained  with  the  Government.  The 
surprising  lack  of  leadership  in  the  Labour  Party  since 
the  General  Election,  in  spite  of  their  notable  victories 
at  the  polls,  has  been  largely  due  to  this  division  of 
forces,  and  to  the  fact  that  several  members,  such  as 
Mr.  Clynes  and  Mr.  Brace,  now  acting  as  Independent 
leaders,  were  at  heart  in  favour  of  remaining  within 
the  Government.  The  Labour  Party,  like  the  Indepen- 
dent Liberals,  have  also  paid  penalty  for  the  spirit  of 
faction. 

Deserted  by  the  bulk  of  the  Labour  Party,  and  by 
the  old  leaders  of  the  Liberal  Party,  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
had  to  form  his  Coalition  out  of  the  combination  of 
those  Liberals  who  remained  faithful  to  him,  and  the 
undivided  forces  of  the  Unionist  Party.  He  and  Mr. 
Bonar  Law  issued  a  joint  manifesto,  and  letters  passed 
between  them  which  defined  the  Coalition  policy.  It 
was  necessarily  a  policy  displeasing  to  both  extreme 
wings.  For  it  is  the  essence  of  a  coalition  that  nobody 
can  get  all  his  own  way.  At  home,  as  abroad,  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  had  to  compromise.  For,  after  all,  it 
is  the  first  duty  of  a  Coalition  to  coalesce.  The  justifi- 
cation of  such  a  policy  of  compromise  on  matters  of 
grave  civil  moment  was  indeed  to  be  found  only  in  the 
gravity  of  the  civil  emergency.  It  was  not  from  one 
party  only  that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  asked  the  sacrifice, 


THE  NEW  WORLD  309 

and  it  is  not  by  one  party  only  that  he  has  since  been 
attacked.1 

The  General  Election  took  place  on  December  I4th 
and  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  returned  to  power  with  a 
majority  of  249  over  all  the  independent  groups.  For 
the  602  seats  in  Great  Britain  no  less  than  478  of- 
ficial Coalition  candidates  were  elected,  while  the  sui- 
cidal policy  of  the  Sinn  Feiners  resulted  in  the  practical 
elimination  of  the  Irish  Party  as  a  parliamentary  force. 
Most  of  the  leading  Independent  Liberals  were  de- 
feated, and  the  Coalition  was  returned  with  a  powerful 
and  overwhelming  mandate  to  carry  out  its  stated  pol- 
icy both  at  home  and  abroad. 

Parliament  met  to  take  the  oath  on  February  3rd, 
1919,  and  was  opened  by  the  King  for  business  on 
Tuesday,  February  nth.  It  was  emphatically  a  war- 
born  Parliament,  but  there  were  also  signs  of  the  New 
World  which  had  emerged  from  the  war.  Only  365 
of  the  old  members  had  been  re-elected.  Labour  stood 
out  as  the  strongest  party  in  opposition,  and  its  parlia- 
mentary leaders  took  their  places  on  the  Front  Opposi- 
tion Bench.2  The  opening  took  place  under  ominous 
signs  of  civil  strife.  The  unrest  of  labour,  restrained 
by  patriotic  motives  during  the  war,  had  already  broken 
out  into  open  flame.  A  general  strike  on  the  Under- 
ground Railways  held  London  in  a  grip  of  paralysis, 
made  harder  by  a  bitter  February  frost.  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  attended  Parliament  before  going  to  the  Peace 

1  By  a  section  in  all  parties.  For  instance,  the  Morning  Post,  the 
Daily  News,  and  the  Daily  Herald,  are  all  equally  vigorous  in  this 
combined  attack. 

'Sixty-three  Labour  members  were  returned  out  of  some  300 
candidates. 


310  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Conference  in  order  to  utter  a  grave  warning  against 
the  dangers  of  those  social  strifes.  "This  trouble,"  he 
said,  "is  impending  peace;  and  peace  is  the  first  neces- 
sity." He  warned  the  country  against  certain  symp- 
toms of  anarchy  new  to  British  movements ;  and  he  had 
grave  reason  for  so  doing.  But,  at  the  same  time,  his 
attitude  towards  the  real  grievances  of  Labour  was 
always  sympathetic  and  open-minded.  His  own  life 
had  taught  him  too  well  the  reality  of  those  fears  which 
enshroud  the  workman's  existence:  the  dread  of  unem- 
ployment; the  precariousness  of  wage;  and,  above  all, 
that  fearful  evil  of  over-crowding  which  had  been  so 
seriously  aggravated  by  the  war.  He  promised  full 
investigation,  and  within  a  few  days  he  called  together 
at  the  Central  Hall,  Westminster,  a  Labour  Confer- 
ence between  employers  and  employed,  to  whom  he 
addressed  himself  in  an  earnest  and  persuasive  speech. 
All  through  the  labour  troubles  of  this  year  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  pursued  the  same  consistent  policy.  He  was 
firm  against  anarchy,  and  yet  open  to  reason  in  regard 
to  all  real  complaints.  He  had  his  ears  open  to  the  call 
of  the  new  order.  But  he  dreaded  the  complete  smash- 
up  of  the  old  society  before  the  new  was  ready,  and 
the  events  in  Russia  faced  him  as  a  glaring  red  light. 
But  he  stood  firm  against  coercion  and  repression  as 
the  only  cure  for  unrest,  and  he  saved  his  Government 
from  pursuing  the  policy  which,  after  Waterloo,  led 
to  the  tragic  anti-climax  of  Peterloo. 

But  there  were  many  impatient  men  in  the  world  in 
1919,  and  the  English  mind  was  apt  to  demand  pay- 
ment in  immediate  cash  for  all  Mr.  Lloyd  George's 
sanguine  perorations.  The  Tube  Strike  in  London 


THE  NEW  WORLD  811 

was  followed  almost  instantly  by  a  great  crisis  in  the 
mine-fields.  The  miners  rejected  the  first  Cabinet 
offer,  and  instantly  went  to  ballot  on  the  question  of  a 
general  strike.  The  rank  and  file  voted  for  the  strike 
by  a  majority  of  six  to  one.1  The  Government  replied 
by  offering  a  Royal  Commission,  which  the  miners  ac- 
cepted after  a  candid  debate  between  them  and  Mr. 
Lloyd  George,  which  was  certainly  a  new  development 
of  open  diplomacy  in  civil  affairs.  Mr.  Justice  Sankey 
was  appointed  as  Chairman  of  the  Commission,  and, 
after  a  hot  debate  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  Feb- 
ruary 25th,  the  Government  promised  that  the  Com- 
mission should  report  on  the  question  of  wages  and 
hours  by  March  2Oth.  On  those  conditions  the  miners 
agreed  to  appoint  representatives  to  the  Royal  Com- 
mission and  to  present  evidence. 

Promptly  on  March  2Oth  Mr.  Justice  Sankey's  Com- 
mission reported,  recommending  an  increase  of  two 
shillings  a  day  in  wages  and  an  immediate  seven-hour 
day,  to  be  reduced  to  six  hours  in  1921.  The  revela- 
tions before  the  Commission  as  to  the  housing  and  con- 
ditions of  labour  among  the  mining  population  made  it 
easy  for  the  Government  to  meet  the  miners.  They 
instantly  granted  them  both  these  concessions,  and  the 
strike  was  postponed.  But  the  question  of  nationalisa- 
tion of  the  mines  was  held  over,  to  become  a  widening 
political  issue  between  the  Government  and  Labour  dur- 
ing the  rest  of  the  year. 

The  Labour  crisis  died  down  for  the  moment,  and 
did  not  recur  in  an  acute  form  until  later  in  the  year 
(October)  when  the  railwaymen,  whose  needs  had  per- 
haps been  too  little  regarded  in  the  stress  of  the  mh> 

'For   the   strike   611,998;   against,   104,997, 


312  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

ing  crisis,  precipitated  a  struggle  by  a  sudden  and  al- 
most universal  strike.  For  a  few  days  the  situation 
looked  extremely  grave,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
there  were  extreme  forces  working  on  both  sides  in 
the  direction  of  civil  war.  But  after  a  short  period  of 
natural  impatience  with  the  conduct  of  the  railwaymen, 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  steadied  himself  back  to  his  old 
combination  of  firmness  and  concession.  On  the  side 
of  the  strikers,  both  the  miners  and  transport  workers 
were  in  favour  of  moderation,  and,  in  the  end,  the  mod- 
erate forces  won.  The  threatened  revolution  was 
averted  by  a  quite  ordinary  compromise  on  hours  and 
wages.  The  whole  crisis  ended  with  a  friendly  and 
even  enthusiastic  meeting  of  both  parties — a  sort  of 
"sing-song" — in  the  domestic  atmosphere  of  10,  Down- 
ing Street.  It  was  a  striking  exhibition  of  Mr.  Lloyd 
George's  characteristic  gifts  of  control  and  conciliation. 
Like  Columbus's  settlement  with  the  egg,  this  per- 
formance seemed  easy  enough  when  it  was  achieved. 
But  we  must  remember  that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  stood 
between  two  forces  both  equally  violent.  On  the  one 
side  there  were  the  Direct  Actionists,  the  "parlour 
Bolshevists"  of  the  trade  unions,  fascinated  by  M. 
Sorrel's *  opiate  dream  of  dominating  the  modern 
State  through  its  complex  organisation  of  food  and 
transport.  The  thing  seemed  so  easy:  and  it  would 
have  been  easy  if  Mr.  Lloyd  George  had  not,  for 
months  before  the  strike,  prepared  to  prevent  it.  The 
motor-lorries  that  supplied  London  with  milk  were  not 
organised  in  a  day.  They  were  part  of  a  perfectly 
legitimate  counter-stroke  prepared  by  the  Government 

1The  founder  of  the  French  Syndicalist  movement.     See  his  book 
Reflexions  sur  la  Violence. 


THE  NEW  WORLD  313 

when  they  realised  the  extent  of  the  plot  to  hold  up 
the  national  life.  But  on  the  extreme  wing  of  the  Gov- 
ernment's side  there  was  an  equally  violent  section  who 
cried,  "Let's  fight  it  out  to  the  end!  Let's  smash  Trade 
Unionism !  Now's  the  time  to  put  Labour  in  the  cart  1" 
— elegant  phrases,  which  we  all  heard  in  those  days. 
To  this  temper  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  vitally  opposed. 
He  was  out  to  fight  Bolshevism  and  "Direct  Action- 
ism,"  but  not  Trade  Unionism.  Happily,  in  this  mid- 
dle policy  he  was  met  half-way  by  several  far-sighted 
leaders  of  trade  unions,  notably  Mr.  J.  H.  Thomas, 
who,  while  resolutely  upholding  the  rights  of  the  rail- 
waymen,  refused  to  surrender  to  the  revolutionaries. 
On  the  Friday  Mr.  Lloyd  George  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  he,  too,  must  resist  his  own  extremists  and  go 
half-way  to  meet  the  trades  union  moderates.  We  all 
remember  how,  under  this  new  policy  of  conciliation, 
the  terrors  of  that  critical  week  passed  away  like  mists 
before  the  wind,  and  Sunday  brought  us  a  sudden  and 
welcome  peace.  It  was  the  triumph  of  the  middle 
point  of  view,  the  old  method  of  British  common 
sense  which  refuses  to  burn  the  house  in  order  to  build 
it  better. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  now  called  to  Paris  for  the 
great  work  of  European  settlement,  and  the  task  of 
reconstruction  was  left  to  his  Ministers  at  home.  From 
February  to  May  Mr.  Bonar  Law  led  the  House  of 
Commons  and  practically  acted  as  Home  Prime  Min- 
ister. He  began  to  develop  the  programme  of  recon- 
struction promised  by  the  Government  at  the  time  of 
the  General  Election.  On  February  26th  Mr.  Shortt 
introduced  a  measure  to  which  Mr.  Lloyd  George  had 
given  a  great  deal  of  thought  and  attention — the  Min- 


314  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

istry  of  Transport  Bill,  constituting  a  bold  claim  on 
behalf  of  the  State  to  supreme  control  of  railways, 
canals,  tramways,  roads,  harbours,  docks,  and  electric 
supply.  On  March  lyth  Sir  Eric  Geddes  ably  de- 
fended the  Bill  and  gained  a  second  reading  without 
a  division. 

It  was  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  so  great  a  change 
should  take  place  without  resistance  from  the  vested 
interests  asked  to  submit  to  control.  In  the  course 
of  the  discussions  that  ensued  various  claims  of  the 
State  had  to  be  modified  and  some  withdrawn,  espe- 
cially in  regard  to  the  docks  and  roads.  But  in  the 
end  a  powerful  measure  was  passed  on  to  the  Statute 
Book,  and  already,  with  the  firmer  grip  over  transport 
and  traffic  which  the  Ministry  of  Transport  is  able 
to  exercise,  the  country  is  feeling  the  tremendous  ad- 
vantages of  this  measure.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  no 
Party  Government  could  have  carried  so  big  a  measure 
with  so  little  debate  within  a  year  of  the  ending  of  the 
war. 

After  Transport,  Housing — a  far  more  difficult 
question.  The  difficulties  and  troubles  which  beset  the 
Government  throughout  1918  on  this  critical  question 
have  become  notorious  to  all  men.  Dr.  Addison  took 
the  first  step  by  introducing,  on  April  yth,  a  Housing 
Bill  which  was  certainly  stronger  than  any  hitherto 
placed  before  Parliament.  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  before 
going  to  Paris,  had  taken  an  active  part  in  pressing 
this  measure.  He  had  ruthlessly  forced  a  peerage  on 
Mr.  Hayes  Fisher  and  had  thus  seriously  shaken  the 
old-time  resistance  of  the  Local  Government  Board. 
The  main  policy  of  the  new  Housing  Act,  as  Dr.  Addi- 
son framed  and  passed  it  through  Parliament,  was  to 


THE  NEW  WORLD  315 

throw  the  burden  of  housing  on  to  the  local  authori- 
ties. The  local  authorities  have  not  proved  equal  to 
the  task.  The  strong  wind  which  was  blowing  at  the 
centre  had  not  yet  reached  Slocum-in-Pogis  and  Little 
Puddleworth.  The  financial  credit  of  the  smaller  local 
authorities  was  not  equal  to  the  new  burden,  and  they 
were  not  powerful  enough  to  face  the  great  vested  in- 
terests which  control  the  raw  material.  Some  of  the 
great  municipalities  acted  with  a  larger  mind,  but  the 
small  towns  and  rural  districts  held  back.  There  was 
much  talk  and  few  houses.  The  result  was  that  at  the 
end  of  the  year  the  Government  had  to  make  a  fresh 
appeal  to  the  private  interests,  adding  a  bait  rising 
to  £150  for  every  house  built.  Certainly  no  good-will 
was  absent  either  on  the  part  of  the  Government  or 
the  central  departments.  But  this  task  of  1919  is 
handed  on  to  1920,  and  may  require  a  vaster  combina- 
tion of  energy  and  good  will  than  has  yet  been  brought 
to  bear  on  it.  What  seemed  to  be  wanted  was  that 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  should  bring  to  bear  on  this  question 
some  of  the  high  patriotic  enthusiasm  which  combined 
employers  and  workmen  to  face  the  Munition  crisis  of 
1915.  He  took  the  first  step  in  this  process  by  meet- 
ing the  building  trades  in  December,  1919. 

After  these  greatest  questions  there  came  a  series 
of  minor  measures  to  round  off  the  Government's 
social  policy.  The  Ministry  of  Health  Bill,  introduced 
in  February  and  passed  during  the  Session,  concen- 
trated all  the  authorities  responsible  for  public  health 
into  one  great  department,  which  will  gradually  func- 
tion as  a  new  centre  for  the  preventive  and  curative 
measures  suggested  by  the  advance  of  medical  science. 
The  Land  Acquisition  Act,  in  spite  of  the  criticism 


316  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

brought  to  bear  on  it,  is  already  of  immense  value  in 
enabling  the  new  housing  authorities  to  acquire  land. 
It  is  now  safe  to  say  that  the  trouble  of  the  land  is  the 
least  of  the  questions  involved  in  the  matter  of  hous- 
ing. The  Land  Settlement  Act,  passed  to  help  place 
ex-soldiers  on  the  land,  quickened  and  extended  the 
facilities  for  acquiring  land  for  settlers  either  on  small 
holdings  or  allotments.  The  Extension  of  Rents  Act, 
passed  in  March,  prolonged  to  one  year  after  the  war 
the  freedom  from  a  rise  in  rent  granted  to  small  house- 
holders, and  the  margin  of  rents  covered  by  the  Act 
was  considerably  raised  in  the  course  of  the  debate.1 
The  Industrial  Courts  Act  set  up  an  industrial  tribunal 
for  the  settlement  of  disputes,  and,  providing  good- 
will gathers  round  it,  may,  in  the  end,  give  to  us  a 
good  working  substitute  for  compulsory  arbitration. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  Session  Parliament  passed  a 
bold  measure  granting  yet  a  further  step  in  the  exten- 
sion of  self-government  to  India,  and  in  one  day  it 
generously  increased  the  grants  to  old  age  pensioners. 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  ended  the  Session  by  sketching  in 
outline  the  bases  of  a  new  Irish  settlement.  Not  a  bad 
record  for  a  Parliament  which  has  been  denounced  in 
all  the  terms  of  the  political  vocabulary  as  reactionary, 
illiberal,  profiteering,  and  even  corrupt! 

Thus  since  the  Armistice,  in  domestic  crises  as  in 
foreign,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  has  continued  to  be  for  this 
country  the  central  figure  of  hope  and  hate.  He  keeps 
his  old  faculty  of  commanding  the  interest  of  men. 
Now,  as  in  the  boyish  scrimmages  of  his  youth,  his 
flying  colours  draw  others  on.  For  the  moment  (1920) 

1  From   £50  per   annum   to  £70  in  London,  £60   in    Scotland    and 
£55  in  the  counties. 


THE  NEW  WORLD  817 

he  strives  for  peace  and  unity  in  civil  endeavour.  But 
that  is  not  because  his  eye  is  dimmed  or  his  combative 
strength  abated.  He  is  by  nature  a  partisan  leader, 
and  it  has  cost  him  no  small  effort  to  continue  in  his 
present  part.  The  defensive  on  two  fronts  is  not  his 
characteristic  role.  His  instinct  is  still  for  the  heart  of 
the  battle :  there,  at  any  rate,  his  spirit  is  not  aged.  If 
party  warfare  should  become  once  more  the  best  thing 
for  the  country,  he  will  not  shrink  from  enlisting  again 
in  that  service.  But  events  have  thrown  on  him  the 
mantle  of  national  leadership,  and  it  is  a  great  respon- 
sibility to  descend  again  into  the  party  arena.  That 
is  not  his  present  reading  of  a  statesman's  duty  in  these 
difficult  days.  His  mind  is  rather  filled  with  another 
vision — the  vision  of  a  State  deliberately  consenting  to 
sink  faction  in  the  cause  of  a  larger  purpose — of  a 
community  which,  with  all  its  passion  for  the  healthy 
strife  of  party,  can  tell  when  to  forego  that  strife, 
and  can  scent  the  danger  from  afar.  It  is  the  old 
vision  of  a  house  not  divided  against  itself,  but  work- 
ing together  all  parties  and  .all  classes,  for  the  com- 
mon good.  Is  it  to  fade  into  the  light  of  common 
day?  That  is  the  question — the  vital  question — before 
us  all. 

Perhaps  the  habit  of  party  passion,  the  love  of  party 
contention,  is  too  deeply  rooted  in  this  island  people. 
Perhaps  the  gulf  between  the  classes  has  already  be- 
come too  wide  to  be  bridged.  There  are  signs  and 
omens  pointing  that  way.  But,  if  so,  let  us  not  be  too 
certain  that  this  party  habit,  because  it  is  our  habit,  is 
necessarily  a  virtue.  Remember  Rome  and  Carthage. 
Rome  united,  and  Carthage  divided.  Rome  stood,  and 
Carthage  fell. 


818  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

At  any  rate,  here  is  this  other  vision — the  vision  of 
a  Britain  that  stands  together,  shoulder  to  shoulder, 
"foursquare  to  all  the  winds  that  blow,"  a  Britain  that 
does  not  wound  itself,  and  therefore  does  not  rue.  To 
"be  of  the  same  mind  one  towards  another"  may  be  a 
vain  hope  and  a  dream  that  fades;  but,  at  any  rate, 
it  is  not  ignoble. 

It  is  for  this  faith  that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  now 
stands  before  the  world,  as  a  national  leader  of  this 
great  and  victorious  British  folk,  now  slowly  groping 
its  way  out  of  the  shadow  of  death  into  the  way  of 
peace. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  MAN 

"He,  though  thus  endued  with  a  sense 
And  faculty  of  storm  and  turbulence, 
Is  yet  a  Soul  whose  master-bias  leans 
To  home-felt  pleasures  and  to  gentle   scenes." 

WORDSWORTH'S  The  Happy  Warrior. 

THAT  element  of  tranquillity  which  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  enjoys  in  his  own  home — that  "happy  fireside 
clime"  which  to  him  is  always  truly — 

"The  pathos  and  sublime 
Of  human  life"— 

perhaps  accounts  for  the  serenity  of  his  outlook  on 
public  life. 

That  serenity  is  never  more  conspicuous  than  in  sea- 
sons of  hurricane.  Like  some  ships,  he  rides  steadiest 
in  rough  seas.  When  people  around  him  are  most  dis- 
turbed, he  is  often  the  most  calm. 

There  is  doubtless  an  element  in  his  nature  which 
rejoices  in  conflict  and  storm.  I  remember  once  finding 
him  in  his  private  room  at  the  House  of  Commons 
when  it  was  urgent  to  bring  him  word  that  Scotland 
Yard  reported  the  intention  of  certain  persons  to  take 
his  life.  His  response  was  to  strike  up  a  verse  of  a 
great  Welsh  hymn  which  passed  beyond  my  scope  of 
understanding;  but  it  was  clear,  from  the  flash  of  the 

319, 


820  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

eye,  that  it  was  a  song  of  rejoicing.  "Well,"  I  said, 
"aren't  you  at  all  disturbed?"  "No,"  he  said,  "with 
the  world  in  storm  I  rejoice.  I  love  all  this  smashing 
of  windows  and  tumult  of  nations.  I  remember  the 
saying  of  a  great  Welsh  preacher:  'Such  disturbances 
of  the  world  always  mean  some  great  movement  in 
the  realms  above' — a  reflection  on  earth  of  some  heav- 
enly strife.  I  believe  that  is  true."  I  did  not  attempt 
to  argue  with  this  mood;  but  this  sympathy  with  unrest 
explains  much  in  his  career,  and  most  of  all  his  skill  in 
riding  through  tempests  and  mastering  storms.  For 
it  is  at  such  moments  that  he  is  at  his  best.  Nothing 
seems  to  frighten  or  appal  him.  When  the  hearts  of 
others  are  dismayed  he  is  touched  with  a  new  emotion. 
It  is  a  kind  of  exaltation,  which  seems  to  work  in 
some  kind  of  harmony  with  that  universal  spirit  which 
rides  the  storm  and  works  through  the  whirlwind. 

It  is  these  moods  which  have  most  confused  his 
critics  and  distorted  their  judgment  of  him.  Those 
who  know  Mr.  Lloyd  George  only  on  one  side  of  his 
nature  have  always  expected  to  see  him  fall  over  some 
political  precipice.  His  zeal,  in  their  opinion,  would 
eat  him  up.  He  would  just  run  the  hot  course  of  so 
many  furious  political  firebrands.  Some  rash  and  hasty 
blunder  would  occur,  and  he  would  flare  out  into  the 
darkness. 

Yet  this  disaster  has  never  occurred.  And  why? 
Because  behind  all  those  flashes  of  spirit  there  has  been 
a  steady  pursuing  purpose;  discreet,  cautious,  shrewd. 
"Whenever  Mr.  Lloyd  George  seems  most  rash,"  said 
to  me  an  old  friend  of  his  who  has  seen  him  in  many 
situations,  "I  always  know  that  there  is  a  cold,  shrewd 
calculation  behind  it.'* 


From  a  photograph  by  Aliss  Olive  Edis.  F.R.P.S. 


MUS.    LLOYD    GKOIIC.E 


Photo  6j/  Brown,  Barnes,  and  Bell,  Liverpool. 


DAVID    LLOYD    GEORGE    AS    A    YOUNG    MAN. 


THE  MAN  321 

It  was  a  true  judgment.  For,  with  his  great  power 
of  words,  he  combines  a  tremendous  sense  of  facts.  If 
he  finds  himself  on  the  wrong  course,  he  will  often 
hark  back.  If  he  has  erred  in  speech  he  will  apologise. 
After  the  most  vehement  attack  he  will  make  friends 
with  his  victim.  It  is  this  combination  of  the  slow 
qualities  with  the  swift — of  judgment  with  daring,  of 
mercy  with  rigour,  of  slow  reflection  with  swift  attack, 
of  the  zeal  of  the  Cambrian  with  the  shrewdness  of 
the  Fleming — that  marks  him  off  from  so  many  of  his 
race.  For  it  is  not  so  much  the  emphasis  of  one  quality 
as  the  combination  of  several  contrasted  qualities  that 
goes  to  make  human  greatness. 

Like  all  great  stalkers  and  trappers,  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  is  very  difficult  to  follow.  He  has  often  dou- 
bled on  his  tracks  whilst  his  faithful  disciples  are  still 
walking  straight  into  the  danger.  He  talks  so  freely 
and  frankly  that  his  paths  seem  to  be  those  wherein 
wayfarers,  though  fools,  may  not  err.  But  with  all 
that  frankness  he  really  keeps  his  own  counsel  and 
forms  his  own  decisions.  That  is  why  so  many  simple 
people  are  so  surprised — and  sometimes  even  a  little 
hurt — to  find  that,  after  they  have  given  him  the  very 
best  of  their  advice,  he  has  just  gone  on  his  own  way. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  by  no  means  despises  the  tactics 
of  public  appeal.  If  necessary,  he  will  use  even  the 
theatrical  in  order  to  impress  the  public  mind.  Soon 
after  the  Birmingham  riot,  at  the  height  of  the  Boer 
War,  his  friends  opened  the  Daily  Express  to  find  that 
there  was  a  scheme  afoot  to  do  him  violence  at  a  meet- 
ing to  be  held  in  Bristol  that  evening.  They  wired  a 
warning  to  the  organisers  of  the  meeting  at  Bristol. 
They  need  not  have  troubled;  for  whatever  danger 


322  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

faced  him  was  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  own  fashioning. 
He  had  deliberately  gone  to  the  office  of  the  Daily 
Express,  advertised  the  place  of  the  meeting,  an- 
nounced his  intention  to  denounce  the  war,  and  prac- 
tically challenged  them  to  kill  him.  The  organisers 
at  Bristol  had  done  their  best  to  conceal  the  meeting. 
This  was  his  way  of  correcting  the  discretion  of  his 
own  friends.  4 

This  was  immediately  after  that  reverberating  event 
at  Birmingham,  when  he  in  fact  nearly  lost  his  life. 
Late  on  that  stormy  evening  he  rang  me  up  in  the 
Daily  News  office  from  Birmingham.  He  wished  me 
to  go  and  inform  his  wife  at  Wandsworth  that  he  was 
safe.  "But,"  I  said,  "what  I  am  to  tell  her?  Where 
are  you?"  "That  I  cannot  divulge,"  he  said  in  a  laugh- 
ing voice.  "At  present  I  am  a  member  of  the  Bir- 
mingham Police  Force" — and  he  gave  me  his  number. 
Through  the  telephone  I  could  hear  the  tinkling  of 
cups.  "Well,"  I  said,  "you  are  having  a  good  sup- 
per." "Yes,"  he  said,  "we  are  making  merry,  and 
the  mob  are  making  merry  outside.  We  are  both 
happy!"  It  was  perhaps  characteristic  of  the  calmness 
of  his  domestic  life  that,  on  reaching  Wandsworth  late 
that  night,  I  found  the  house  closed  and  the  whole 
family  fast  asleep.  Mrs.  Lloyd  George  happily  had 
not  heard  of  the  danger  through  which  he  was  passing 
at  Birmingham. 

Then,  as  now,  this  habit  of  courage  was  always  his 
supreme  public  characteristic.  "Of  all  qualities  in  pub- 
lic Fife,"  he  said  to  me  once,  "courage  is  the  rarest." 
From  the  earliest  episodes  of  his  career,  from  that  day 
when  he  defied  the  Bench  in  North  Wales,  here — in 
his  courage — has  always  been  the  conscious  centre  of 
his  power.  He  has  always  believed  that  if  you  want 


THE  MAN  323 

to  destroy  a  popular  idol  you  must  learn  to  face  it  and 
to  fight  it — to  put  it  to  open  shame — if  necessary,  to 
insult.it.  Fear  rules  the  minds  of  men;  and  against 
fear  courage  alone  prevails.  This  was  always  the  mov- 
ing faith  at  the  back  of  all  his  great  campaigns,  whether 
of  peace  or  of  war.  It  was  with  this  weapon  that 
he  has  fought  both  Governments  at  home  and  Prus- 
sians abroad.  It  was  the  element  of  policy  that  under- 
lay that  frank  directness  of  speech  which  offended  the 
cultured  classes  of  England  so  profoundly  at  the  time 
of  his  Budget  campaign. 

For  he  convinced  himself  that  modern  public  speak- 
ers had,  got  into  the  habit  of  referring  too  politely  to 
great  national  evils.  He  believed  that  the  jnost  effec- 
tive weapon  to  use  against  these  evils  was  to  revive 
some  of  the  lost  frankness  of  our*  forefathers.  His 
great  aim  was  to  prove  that  it  was  safe  to  speak  as 
plainly  about  a  duke  as  about  an  ordinary  citizen.  He 
had  known  in  his  young  days  how  cowed  men  could 
be,  how  fearful  of  shadows,  how  frightened  by  ghosts. 
The  thing  he  had  most  admired  about  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain was  his  plainness  of  speech.  It  was  his  deliberate 
policy  to  revive  that  habit.  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  ora- 
tory of  the  year  1911  was  the  direct  successor  of  Mr. 
Chamberlain's  during  the  years  between  1886  and 

1893- 

As  to  the  abuse  he  encountered,  he  counted  that  as 
a  political  gain.  He  was  fond  of  the  story  of  the 
workman  who  had  heard  a  political  agent  expressing 
terror  at  the  fury  of  a  certain  class.  "Bless  my  heart !" 
said  the  workman,  "we  never  thinks  you  mean  business 
until  they  squeals."  So  it  was  with  the  avalanches  of 
calumny  which  fell  upon  Mr.  Lloyd  George  between 
1911  and  1914.  He  knew  that  it  was  the  penalty  of 


324  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

challenging  the  powers  in  high  places.  It  showed  that 
his  proposals  really  "meant  business."  "Their  abuse," 
says  Sir  Fretful  Plagiary  in  The  Critic,  "is  the  best 
panegyric."  So  Mr.  Lloyd  George  ploughed  the  road 
to  fame  through  the  abuse  of  those  years. 

Yet  all  the  time  he  suffered.  He  has  a  heart  very 
sensitive  to  the  affections  of  the  people.  He  was  puz- 
zled at  the  way  men  hated  him.  It  was  not  the  dan- 
ger of  it  he  minded;  for  he  would  scarcely  allow  the 
Scotland  Yard  men  to  protect  him.  It  was  the  pain 
of  it.  He  frankly  hates  dislike;  his  nature  craves  the 
sun ;  he  is  at  his'best  among  friends.  "I  cannot  imagine 
why  they  detest  me  so,"  he  said  one  day  during  that 
time.  "I  seem  to  be  the  best  hated  man  in  England." 
The  reply  was  obvious.  "If  one  half  of  England  hates 
you  too  much,  then  surely  the  other  half  loves  you  too 
absurdly."  He  was  instantly  all  smiles.  "That  is  per- 
fectly-true," he  cried — and  put  the  melancholy  thoughts 
aside. 

During  the  struggle  over  the  Licensing  Bill  of  1908 
he  received  numerous  postcards  written  in  what  was 
intended  to  be  blood,  but  looked  suspiciously  like  red 
ink.  These  documents  generally  threatened  him  with 
instant  death,  probably  combined  with  torture — "some- 
thing lingering,  with  boiling  oil."  They  came,  or  pro- 
fessed to  come,  from  enraged  publicans  fearful  for 
their  livelihood.  These  postcards  got  curiously  on  his 
nerves.  "I  don't  mind  so  much  being  killed,"  he  said 
one  day,  "but  I  should  hate  being  killed  by  a  publican." 
There  seemed  to  him  something  curiously  unsatisfac- 
tory in  such  a  way  of  going  out. 

But  in  general  he  has  taken  little  heed  of  threats. 
It  was  only  with  great  difficulty  that  the  Attorney- 
General  could  persuade  him  to  sanction  a  prosecution 


THE  MAN  325 

in  the  famous  case  of  the  poisoned  arrow  conspiracy. 
He  was  always  in  favour  of  leniency  to  the  Suffragettes. 
It  is  not  merely  that  he  hates  excessive  punishment. 
His  haunting  sense  of  humour  seems  to  be  offended  by 
the  idea  that  he  is  taking  up  so  much  room  in  the  world. 
He  dislikes  the  attendance  of  detectives  almost  as  much 
as  Mr.  Gladstone  did.  "Can  you  possibly  tell  me 
where  Mr.  Lloyd  George  is  going?"  was  the  frequent 
cry  of  those  unhappy  followers  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
to  his  friends  in  those  perilous  days  of  civil  strife. 
"He  is  always  giving  us  the  slip,"  was  their  complaint. 
Sitting  one  day  on  one  of  those  little  green  chairs  in 
the  Green  Park  for  which  the  Londoner  pays  his  obol 
— a  favourite  seat  of  his  in  those  days  of  peace — at 
the  end  of  a  long  talk  he  sighed  and  looked  grave.  He 
inclined  his  head  towards  a  shabby-looking  individual 
who  was  smoking  a  pipe  and  sitting  not  far  off  under 
a  tree  reading  a  newspaper  with  apparent  indifference 
to  the  whole  world  around  him.  "There  is  my  guardian 
angel!"  said  Mr.  Lloyd  George. 

It  is  not  only  in  facing  hostile  audiences  that  he  has 
displayed  his  courage.  He  has  never  hesitated  to  tell 
his  friends  the  truth.  He  has  that  gift  of  leadership 
which  consists  of  making  followers  do  something  which 
they  do  not  want  to  do.  He  has  put  aside  all  fear  of 
those  great  influences  which  overshadow  English  pub- 
lic life — birth,  money,  prestige,  caste.  He  represents 
in  high  places  a  new  freedom  from  all  those  bogies — 
almost  the  realisation  of  Robbie  Burns's  dream : 

"For   a'   that,    an'    a'   that, 

It's  coming  yet  for   a'  that, 

That  man  to  man,  the  world  o'er, 

Shall  brithers  be  for  a'  that." 

Not  in  his  most  vehement  Limehouse  days  did  he 


826  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

say  anything  stronger  than  the  Scotch  ploughman  said 
in  his  famous  song: 

"Ye  see  yon  birkie  ca'd  a  lord, 

Wha  struts,  an'  stares,  an'  a'  that; 
Tho'  hundreds  worship  at  his  word, 
He's  but  a  coof  for  a'  that." 

Mr.  Lloyd  George,  in  fact,  always  tests  man  by  what 
is  in  him;  not  by  the  guinea  stamp,  or  by  the  pedigree. 
Why  should  he  not?  Birth!  What  birth  can  there 
be  higher  than  that  of  a  Welshman? — "The  oldest  race 
in  these  islands."  Money?  "I  can  always  get  money 
for  a  cause ;  there  is  no  difficulty  about  money."  That 
has  always  been  his  view;  and  who  q,an  wonder  that 
such  should  be  the  belief  of  a  man  who  has  made  mil- 
lionaires subscribe  for  their  own  taxation! 

Of  prestige  he  is  perhaps  more  fearful.  He  was 
tremendously  impressed  with  Oxford  when  he  stayed 
in  that  town  for  some  days  on  his  visit  to  the  Pal- 
merston  Club  during  the  Boer  War.  "I  am  glad  I 
never  came  here,"  he  said.  "I  should  never  have  re- 
covered from  the  influence  of  this  place;  it  would  have 
been  with  me  all  my  life."  He  was  indeed  strongly 
gripped  by  Oxford  and  its  "dreaming  towers."  After 
two  days  of  it  he  was,  for  the  moment,  half  subdued. 
"Ah!"  he  said,  "how  the  past  holds  you  here."  All 
of  which  shows  what  a  mistake  our  forefathers  made 
when  they  excluded  the  Nonconformists  from  our 
ancient  universities. 

It  is  indeed  quite  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  is  dead  to  the  voices  of  the  past.  There 
is  no  greater  delusion  than  to  regard  him  as  an  unlet- 
tered man.  If  the  best  education  is  to  turn  a  boy  loose 
in  a  library,  then  he  has  enjoyed  to  the  full  that  form 
of  schooling.  He  started  life  with  the  training  of  a 


THE  MAN  327 

lawyer,  which  he  always  claims  to  be  the  best  mental 
discipline  to  which  a  human  mind  can  be  subjected. 
Those  laborious  explorations  of  French  and  the  classics 
through  which  he  passed  with  his  "Uncle  Lloyd"  as 
companion,  were  certainly  not  less  useful  as  a  training 
than  the  fugitive  crammings  of  the  average  University 
undergraduate.  At  any  rate,  he  learnt  to  read  for 
himself;  and  to  absorb  what  he  read.  Since  those 
early  days  he  has  been  a  wide  reader  in  all  his  spare 
time.  He  knows  his  English  historians  better  than 
most  Englishmen.  He  can  hold  his  own  with  most 
classical  scholars  in  discussions  on  ancient  history. 
Perhaps,  indeed,  Rome  holds  him  most  of  all  the  coun- 
tries. He  knows  his  Mommsen  well,  and  he  spent  the 
long  convalescence  from  the  throat  illness  that  came  to 
him  after  the  Budget  in  reading  some  of  the  latest 
Italian  historians  of  ancient  Rome.  He  emerged  from 
that  illness  a  formidable  expert  in  later  Roman  his- 
tory, especially  in  the  land  laws  of  the  Gracchi.  In 
fact,  he  has  most  of  the  outfit  of  the  scholar  except  the 
scholar's  pride. 

Parallels  from  history  are  dangerous;  but  they  al- 
ways haunt  the  mind  of  a  well-read  imaginative  man, 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  is  very  fond  of  them.  One  eve- 
ning in  1908,  when  we  were  sitting  in  the  Orangerie 
at  Stuttgart,  in  a  pause  of  the  German  tour  of  that 
year,  the  conversation  began  to  turn  on  the  possibilities 
of  a  war  between  Britain  and  Germany.  The  parallel 
of  Rome  and  Carthage  came  like  a  flash  from  Mr. 
Lloyd  George ;  it  brought  from  him  one  of  those  far- 
reaching  forecasts  which,  in  other  days,  would  have 
earned  him  the  mantle  of  a  prophet.  "There  is  the 
same  commercial  rivalry,"  he  said,  "the  same  sea  jeal- 
ousy, the  same  abiding  quarrel  between  the  soldier  and 


328  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

the  merchant,  the  warrior  and  the  shopkeeper,  the 
civilisation  that  has  arrived  and  the  civilisation  that  is 
still  struggling  to  arrive."  He  paused,  and  then  he 
added:  "I  wonder  if  we  shall  be  as  unprepared  as 
Carthage;  I  wonder  if  we  shall  be  as  torn  by  faction?" 

It  is  curious  to  look  back  now  on  that  conversation, 
in  that  comfortable,  well-lighted  garden — the  pride  of 
that  old  German  town — with  the  vault  of  stars  above 
us,  and  the  murmur  of  a  great  city  around  us.  We 
thought  no  more  of  it  at  the  time.  But  now  it  comes 
back. 

In  his  games,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  is  a  keen  sports- 
man. Golfers,  as  a  class,  have  the  seriousness  of 
religious  devotees.  But  no  man  could  pursue  the  little 
white  ball  round  a  course  with  a  steadier  concentration 
than  Mr.  Lloyd  George.  No  player  could  be  keener 
on  victory.  "Golf  is  like  life,"  he  loves  to  say,  "you 
never  quite  make  up  for  losing  a  hole."  His  game  has 
much  improved  in  recent  years;  though  he  never  claims 
to  be  a  champion.  He  has  not  again  repeated  the 
achievement  of  "holing  out  in  one."  That  was  at 
Cannes  in  the  far-off,  merry  days  before  the  Great 
War.  It  had  the  beauty  of  the  unexpected.  He  drove 
off:  and  lo  and  behold!  the  ball  disappeared.  The 
caddies  hunted  everywhere;  and  it  was  just  being  pro- 
nounced a  "lost  ball,"  when  a  sharp  youth  looked  into 
the  hole,  and  there  the  ball  was  quietly  reposing  I 

It  is  usual  on  these  occasions  to  present  the  caddy 
with  a  bottle  of  whisky.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  gave  the 
lad  five  francs;  and  of  course  there  were  candid  friends 
who  said  that  the  caddy  had  put  the  ball  in  the  hole. 
There  are  always  critics,  even  on  the  golf-course. 

His  worst  enemies  cannot  accuse  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
of  "side" ;  so  there  are  some  who  say  that  he  has  not 


THE  MAN  329 

enough.  He  is,  in  fact,  the  simplest  of  men,  fond  of 
being  surrounded  with  friends,  and  very  faithful  to  the 
humble  friends  of  his  youth.  He  is  curiously  uncon- 
scious of  his  own  position  in  the  world.  To  one  who 
congratulated  him  on  his  elevation  to  the  Premiership 
he  merely  replied,  "Oh!  I  had  forgotten  that!"  And 
I  believe  that  he  had. 

This  simplicity  makes  him  very  thorough.  He 
knows  his  own  ignorance.  When  he  was  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer  he  went  to  Somerset  House  and  went 
carefully  through  the  whole  system  of  the  old  land 
taxes  and  their  working.  When  he  was  guiding  his 
Budget  through  the  House  of  Commons  he  had  a  daily 
meeting  of  the  Treasury  experts,  with  whom  he  dis- 
cussed every  detail.  That  is  always  his  method — to 
learn  all  he  can  from  others.  He  is  a  great  listener, 
and  learns  rather  by  the  ear  than  by  the  eye. 

He  is  very  considerate  for  his  secretaries  and  his 
staff;  but  he  works  them  hard.  He  has  no  place  for 
"slacker^."  When  he  first  went  to  the  Treasury,  he 
astounded  that  august  Department  by  beginning  work 
at  ten  o'clock.  They  soon  caught  the  habit,  for  later 
on  they  slaved  for  him  in  a  way  that  astonished  the 
onlooker.  He  can  make  others  work  because  he  works 
himself. 

At  one  time  he  took  a  great  interest  in  the  organisa- 
tion of  the  Civil  Service.  On  first  becoming  a  Min- 
ister, he  was  astonished  to  discover  the  rigidity  of  the 
division  between  the  First  and  Second  Classes  of  the 
Civil  Service.  He  wished  the  system  to  be  more  fluid. 
Once  he  was  struck  by  the  ability  of  a  certain  civil 
servant,  and  he  wished  to  place  him  in  a  position  of 
trust.  "It  is  impossible!"  was  the  reply;  "he  is  only  a 
second  division  clerk."  Mr.  Lloyd  George  looked  up 


330  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

with  a  flash  of  whimsical  indignation.  "Why!"  he 
replied,  "I  am  only  a  second  division  clerk  myself!" 

Whenever  one  tries  to  discover  the  secret  of  his 
power  over  men,  one  comes  back  to  that  supreme  gift 
of  his — the  gift  of  the  silver  tongue — the  power  of 
public  speech.  That  is,  after  all,  the  thing  that  has 
made  him  supreme  over  men.  To  hear  him  at  his  best 
one  must  hear  him  on  a  public  platform,  addressing  a 
great  public  audience.  There  are  few  fireworks,  no 
shouting,  no  declaiming.  He  opens  easily,  in  a  soft, 
quiet  voice :  he  always  works  up  to  his  effects.  There 
are  "purple  patches"  now  and  again;  but  the  bulk  of  it 
seems  almost  conversational,  and  is  often  broken  by 
colloquial  phases — "Can  you  hear  at  the  back  there?" 
"Ah  I  well,  you  must  listen  if  you  want  me  to  speak  to 
you."  He  is  almost  always  very  soon  on  good  terms 
with  his  audience;  it  is  only  by  shouting  him  down  that 
his  enemies  can  prevent  that.  He  is  never  angry  on  a 
public  platform;  he  seems  always  quite  at  home,  as  if 
it  was  his  real  natural  element.  He  can  be  scathing  at 
times — withering,  scornful,  contemptuous.  But  that 
mood  rarely  lasts  long.  He  generally  returns  swiftly 
to  his  gentler  moods — persuasion,  appeal,  emotion. 
He  almost  always  prepares  a  careful  peroration,  gen- 
erally a  memorised  piece  of  prose  poetry,  very  often 
drawn  from  some  great  phase  of  nature — from  the 
hills  or  the  sea.  Then  his  speeches  end  on  the  high 
note;  and  his  audiences  go  home  with  a  sense  of  having 
been  uplifted. 

There  they  are  right — for  it  is  precisely  his  power 
as  a  speaker  to  uplift  the  hearts  of  men.  He  has  his 
own  moods.  But  from  those  he  carefully  selects  the 
very  best,  and  gives  them  to  the  world.  No  public 
man  can  do  more. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

HIGHWAYS  AND  BYWAYS 

"Jog,  jog  on,  the  foot-path  way, 
And  merrily  hent  the  stile-a: 
A  merry  heart  goes  all  the  day, 
Your  sad  tires  in  a  mile-a." 
Autolycus  in  SHAKESPEARE'S  The  Winter's  Tale,  Act  IV,  Sc.  ii. 

BUT,  on  the  whole,  it  is  the  future  rather  than  the 
past  that  rules  the  mind  of  David  Lloyd  George. 

To  him  the  future  has  always  been  an  unexplored 
miracle — ever  in  travail  with  some  new  birth.  To 
him,  behind  the  veil  of  the  coming  time,  there  always 
lies  a  possibility  of  some  event  such  as  the  world  has 
never  known — of  some  creation  such  as  the  world  has 
never  seen.  He  has  moods  when  he  seems  "fey"  with 
his  belief.  "I  am  out  to  abolish  slums,"  he  cried  one 
evening,  in  1912,  walking  across  London  upon  a  win- 
ter's night  beneath  a  starless  sky.  He  meant  it.  His 
bitterest  enemy  could  not  have  laughed  at  that  utter- 
ance if  he  had  heard  it. 

In  such  moods  he  was  at  that  time  ( 1908-12)  indeed 
"The  little  Brother  of  the  poor."  He  was  filled  with 
a  certain  storming  passion  of  pity,  so  powerful  that  it 
seemed  to  destroy  all  obstacles — to  bridge  all  diffi- 
culties. All  the  accumulated  memories  of  his  own 
childhood — all  the  recollections  of  the  poor  cottagers 
among  whom  he  had  been  brought  up,  all  their  suffer- 
ings and  pains,  all  their  oppressions  and  tragedies, 

331 


332  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

seemed  to  be  moving  behind  him  like  some  great  tide 
and  driving  him  on.  I  remember  his  explaining  once 
his  own  consciousness  of  the  mark  which  such  an  up- 
bringing left  on  a  man's  life.  He  was  talking  about 
the  East  End  Settlement  movement,  and  of  its  attempt 
to  bring  the  leisured  classes  nearer  to  the  workers.  He 
was  a  little  doubtful.  "It  is  a  gulf  which  can  never  be 
bridged,"  he  said.  "You  people  can  never  understand 
what  it  is  to  be  really  hungry  or  out  of  work.  The 
difference  lies  in  security.  The  poor  man  is  always  in 
danger,  and  he  always  knows  it." 

It  was  such  a  knowledge  that  inspired  him  with  his 
enthusiasm  for  Old  Age  Pensions  and  for  his  Insurance 
Schemes.  It  was  just  this  security  that  he  wanted  to 
give  to  the  life  of  the  poor.  And  yet  he  has  never 
been  a  sentimentalist  over  their  troubles.  He  looks  at 
them,  so  to  speak,  from  the  inside.  The  sentimental- 
ism  of  the  philanthropic  middle  classes  rather  annoys 
him.  What  he  always  craves  for  the  poor  is  justice, 
and  not  charity.  In  the  days  of  the  Insurance  Act  he 
was  sincerely  afraid  olf  creating  a  dependent  working 
class.  He  was  surprised  when  he  received  so  little 
help  in  his  contributory  policy.  "I  will  never  try  to  be 
good  again,"  he  said  laughingly  one  day.  "They  call 
me  a  demagogue,  and  next  time  I  will  really  be  one." 
Such  was  his  chaff. 

In  conversation  he  first  expressed  the  idea  of  social 
insurance  by  a  parallel  from  the  Canadian  farmer  who 
insures  his  wheat  against  early  winter  frosts.  That 
was  the  image  in  which  he  expressed  his  sense  of  the 
vast  power  of  the  modern  State  to  build  up  a  properly 
organised  system  of  individual  security.  Having  once 
conceived  this  idea,  the  various  benefits  came  to  him  in 


HIGHWAYS  AND  BYWAYS  335 

waves  of  compassion — sickness,  invalidity,  maternity, 
consumption.  He  worked  all  these  benefits  out  from 
his  own  experience  of  the  sorrows  of  the  poor.  "I 
want  to  make  the  little  stranger  welcome,"  he  said  one 
day,  talking  about  the  maternity  benefit.  "It  is  hor- 
rible to  think  that  he  should  come  trailing  clouds  of 
trouble  instead  of  'clouds  of  glory.'  '  The  story  of 
the  consumptive  benefits  is  interesting.  He  had  not 
felt  the  need  of  this  benefit  until  one  night  he  read 
through  a  very  powerful  medical  work  describing  the 
ravages  of  consumption  in  modern  Britain.  The  extent 
of  the  evil  at  once  fully  dawned  on  him.  He  came 
down  in  the  morning  with  his  mind  fully  made  up.  He 
went  straight  to  the  Treasury,  called  together  his  ex- 
perts, told  them  to  put  aside  £1,500,000  to  fight  con- 
sumption,1 and  so  created  that  famous  sanatorium 
benefit  which  is  still  proving  only  the  first  step  towards 
removing  a  gigantic  evil. 

He  faced  all  these  familiar  troubles  of  modern  Itfe 
with  a  "divine  discontent"  new  to  modern  men.  We 
all  knew  these  things;  but  most  of  us  had  become  so 
familiar  with  them  that  our  anger  was  blunted.  Our 
reforming  temper  had  grown  tired  and  stale.  But  this 
Welshman  approached  the<  matter  with  some  of  the 
ardour  of  the  revivalist.  He  would  not  accept  the 
ordinary  excuses ;  he  believed  these  evils  to  be  curable. 
Fresh  from  the  Welsh  hills,  he  flamed  with  a  new  sur- 
prise at  the  power  of  poverty  over  modern  civilisation. 
He  showed  some  of  the  ingenuous  dismay  of  a  sur- 
prised Gotama  emerging  from  his  garden.  He  real- 
ised that  private  efforts  had  been  tried  and  found  in- 

1  As  a  capital  sum  for  building,  in  addition  to  £1,000,000  a  year 
for  maintenance  out  of  the  Insurance  Fund.  Even  these  sums  have 
proved  quite  inadequate. 


334  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

adequate.  What  he  saw  with  a  flash  was  that  the 
State  alone  could  cope  with  the  evils  produced  by  the 
State ;  the  Government  must  become  the  parent  and  no 
longer  the  stepmother  of  its  own  children. 

Once  he  realised  this  idea  he  was  eager  to  carry  it 
into  effect.  He  was  passing  from  one  great  effort  to 
another — from  the  Insurance  Act  to  the  Land  Cam- 
paign— when  the  Great  War  burst  upon  him.  Then 
the  very  elements  of  civilisation  had  to  be  defended 
against  an  even  greater  peril. 

It  is  recorded  that  the  rebuilders  of  the  Temple  had 
to  build  every  one  with  "his  sword  girded  by  his 
side."  1  There  must  have  been  times  when  they  had 
to  lay  down  the  trowel  entirely  and  work  with  the 
sword  alone.  Such  a  time  came  to  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
in  1914;  the  trowel  was  only  laid  down.  Now  it  is 
being  taken  up  again. 

What  struck  the  observer  most  in  his  achievements 
during  those  years  ( 1908-14)  was  his  daring  and  orig- 
inality. Plenty  of  clever  English  minds  had  been  work- 
ing on  these  problems  ever  since  1886.  But  how  little 
had  been  done!  How  long  we  had  had  to  wait  for 
Pensions  and  Insurance !  How  strangely  academic  and 
remote  were  all  those  University  and  West  End  specu- 
lations on  these  problems !  How  quarrelsome  were  the 
philanthropists!  How  divided  were  the  English  La- 
bour leaders!  Then  from  outside  came  this  zealous 
Welsh  Crusader,  and  while  all  these  people  were  still 
talking  he  proceeded  to  act.  When  the  world  had 
recovered  from  its  surprise  most  of  the  persons  con- 
cerned turned  round  and  attacked  Mr.  Lloyd  George. 
However  right  he  might  be  in  his  aim,  there  was  always 

*Nehemiah  IV,  8. 


HIGHWAYS  AND  BYWAYS  335 

sure  to  be  something  wrong  with  his  methods.  This 
attitude  frankly  puzzled  him.  "Why!  they  talk  as  if 
I  was  trespassing,"  he  used  to  say.  "Is  charity,  then, 
a  form  of  property?  Is  kindness  a  monopoly?"  The 
attitude  of  the  doctors  especially  surprised  him.  "I 
have  made  a  discovery,"  he  said  one  day  with  a  twinkle 
in  his  eye.  "I  have  discovered  that  disease  is  a  vested 
interest!" 

Throughout  all  these  struggles  over  social  reform 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  tempered  his  enthusiasm  with  a  very 
even  sense  of  political  tactics.  He  knew  well  that,  to 
carry  England  with  him,  he  must  always  have  a  great 
political  party  at  his  back.  There  were  times  when  this 
was  not  easy.  Neither  of  the  great  political  party 
machines  in  this  country  is  exactly  impassioned  for  new 
ideas.  It  is  rather  typical  of  the  faithful  party  man 
to  view  a  new  proposal  with  actual  dislike.  "Why  not 
leave  it  all  alone?"  is  a  common  attitude  with  all 
parties. 

Then  there  is  the  value  of  a  grievance.  There  is 
even  a  type  of  party  man  who  actually  regrets  to  see 
his  cause  succeed.  "If  we  pass  the  Bill  we  shall  lose 
the  cry!"  you  hear  him  say.  "Mr.  Lloyd  George  is 
passing  too  many  Acts  of  Parliament,"  was  the  com- 
mon complaint  of  the  period  among  the  very  faithful. 

To  this  type  of  man  the  Budget  of  1909-10  was 
rather  a  distracting  affair.  They  were  always  trying 
to  "dilute"  it.  The  Insurance  Bill,  too,  would  cer- 
tainly have  been  thrown  over  if  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
had  not  staked  his  fortunes  on  it;  and,  as  to  the  Land 
Campaign,  that  was  viewed  with  open  disfavour  in  the 
same  quarters.  For  every  party  has  its  priesthood; 


336  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

and  in  politics,  as  in  religion,  all  priesthoods  are  con- 
servative. 

But,  in  spite  of  all  this  trouble  within  the  party,  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  was  always  resolute  not  to  quarrel  with 
the  machine.  One  of  his  fixed  principles  was — "Keep 
the  party  machine  on  your  side."  He  was  certainly 
not  a  typical  party  man — far  from  it.  He  regarded 
the  party  as  the  instrument  and  the  cause  as  the  end; 
whereas  the  typical  parry  view  is  that  the  cause  is  the 
instrument  and  the  party  the  end.  But  he  knew  the 
power  of  the  machine;  he  often  quoted  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain as  an  instance  showing  that  in  the  end  the  machine 
won.  "Mr.  Chamberlain  fought  both  of  the  machines 
in  turn,"  he  used  to  say,  "and,  in  the  end,  both  com- 
bined against  him  and  beat  him."  Roosevelt  was  an- 
other case  which  impressed  him  deeply.  "Ah!"  he 
commented,  when  that  great  man  was  beaten  so  de- 
cisively in  1913,  "Roosevelt  ought  not  to  have  quar- 
relled with  the  machine." 

On  these  grounds  he  has  often  accepted  the  second 
best  in  policy. 

He  has  often  allowed  himself  to  be  convinced  against 
his  will.  After  the  defeat  of  the  Education  Bill  in 
1906,  for  instance,  he  was  as  eager  to  go  back  to  the 
country  as  Mr.  Gladstone  after  the  Lords'  rejection 
of  Home  Rule  in  1893.  Both  these  great  fighters  felt 
instinctively  that  a  party  which  accepts  a  defeat  asks 
to  be  defeated  again  until  it  is  finally  smashed.  You 
cannot  expect  a  country  to  vote  for  ever  for  a  party 
that  accepts  defeat  as  its  proper  portion.  But  in  this 
case,  as  in  others,  rather  than  quarrel  with  his  party, 
he  acquiesced  in  the  decision  to  go  on. 

Still,  he  was  glad  when  the  split  with  the  Lords 


HIGHWAYS  AND  BYWAYS  337 

became  irrevocable.  It  happened  that  I  had  the  for- 
tune of  announcing  to  him  the  resolution  of  the  Lords 
to  throw  out  the  Budget.  It  was  down  at  Lord  Ren- 
ders beautiful  house  near  Guildford,  where  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  was  staying  for  the  last  time  with  that  faithful 
Nestor  of  Welsh  Liberalism.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  had 
been  very  anxious.  He  knew  that  the  wiser  Unionist 
leaders  in  the  Lords  had  been  in  favour  of  accepting 
his  Bill.  He  was  afraid  that  the  Lords  were  going  to 
refuse  battle  on  grounds  so  favourable  to  their  assail- 
ants. When  I  told  him  the  news  his  face  shone.  "The 
Lord,"  he  cried,  "has  delivered  them  into  our  hands !" 
In  the  same  way,  he  has  always  been  very  slow  to 
take  the  step  of  resignation  from  high  political  office. 
How  often  have  his  friends — generally  a  man's  worst 
advisers — urged  him  to  resign  over  some  failure  to 
gain  his  own  way!  But  he  well  knows  that  there  is 
nothing  more  difficult  in  politics  than  the  art  of  resign- 
ing opportunely.  You  must  have  a  great  issue  and  you 
must  have  your  people  behind  you.  "You  cannot  be 
always  resigning,"  was  one  of  his  favourite  sayings 
during  the  critical  years  of  1909-12.  It  is  true  that 
he  often  came  near  it,  but  he  would  generally  com- 
promise the  matter  and  pass  on.  He  was  equally 
against  Cabinets  resigning  in  a  hurry.  After  the  sec- 
ond General  Election  of  1910  there  was  a  meeting 
when  the  Liberal  Cabinet,  wearied  out  with  a  long 
struggle,  was  on  the  verge  of  resignation.  Every  mem- 
ber who  spoke  at  this  fateful  meeting  had  favoured 
resignation.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  felt  strongly  opposed 
to  it,  but  he  was  almost  silenced  by  the  unanimity  of  his 
colleagues.  At  last  he  scribbled  a  line  and  threw  it 


338  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

across  to  Mr.  Winston  Churchill.  "I  feel  strongly 
against  resignation,"  he  wrote.  "What  do  you  think?" 
Mr.  Winston  Churchill  scribbled  below:  "If  you  feel 
against  it,  speak  against  it."  Mr.  Lloyd  George  spoke 
against  it,  and  spoke  so  persuasively  that  the  idea  of 
resignation  was  dropped. 

Even  on  fundamental  issues  he  would  often  accept 
personal  defeat  for  the  time.  He  had  to  decide 
whether  to  go  out  into  the  wilderness  or  to  work  with 
men  to  whom  he  was  attached,  and  with  whose  ideas 
he  broadly  and  profoundly  sympathised.  When  the 
draft  of  the  new  Home  Rule  Bill  was  before  the  Cabi- 
net in  1910  he  moved  to  exclude  Protestant  Ulster. 
He  made  the  longest  speech  he  had  ever  addressed  to 
a  Cabinet  on  that  issue.  He  prophesied  what  was  cer- 
tainly coming — the  resistance  of  Ulster;  the  refusal  of 
Protestant  England  to  join  in  coercing  her;  the  hesita- 
tion of  the  Government  to  carry  out  their  Act.  He 
was  in  favour  of  telling  the  Irish  Party  straightaway 
that  the  Government  of  1910  was  not  strong  enough 
to  include  Ulster  in  the  Home  Rule  Bill.  He  would 
have  left  the  Irish  Party  to  accept  or  reject  the  Bill  as 
it  would  have  then  stood.  He  himself  believed  that  in 
such  a  case  Ulster  would  come  in  during  the  parlia- 
mentary discussions  on  the  Bill.  He  was  defeated  in 
his  proposal.  Being  defeated,  he  loyally  stood  by  the 
Cabinet  and  steadily  supported  the  Bill.  It  was  not 
until  long  afterwards,  when  he  himself  became  Prime 
Minister  and  responsible  for  policy,  that  he  revealed 
to  the  world  in  that  dramatic  speech  which  drove  the 
Irish  Party  out  of  the  House,  the  fact  that  he  had 
always  been  in  favour  of  the  exclusion  of  Ulster. 


HIGHWAYS  AND  BYWAYS  339 

In  literature  and  art  Mr.  Lloyd  George  does  not 
pretend  to  be  among  the  elect.  He  gives  himself  no 
airs  and  has  no  pretensions.  He  is  just  himself.  He 
states,  without  parley,  his  own  genuine  opinions  on 
books  and  pictures;  and,  as  that  is  the  rarest  habit  in 
the  world,  it  is  always  interesting.  Nine  out  of  ten 
literary  and  artistic  judgments  are  reflections  or  echoes 
— repeated  at  second-hand  from  some  bolder  speaker, 
or  even  vaguely  salvaged  from  the  dim  abysses  of  mem- 
ory. The  most  refreshing  thing  in  the  world,  there- 
fore, is  an  honest,  fresh,  and  original  judgment.  It  is 
characteristic  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George  that  he  never  hesi- 
tates to  give  that  in  any  company. 

In  literature  he  votes  with  both  hands  for  Byron, 
perhaps  because  Byron  is  the  poet  of  liberty,  and  also 
because  that  great  writer,  with  all  his  faults,  has  the 
quality  of  daring.  But  he  boldly  contends  that  the 
Welsh  are  among  the  greatest  of  modern  poets;  and 
he  will  recite  their  verses  at  large,  even  to  English 
friends,  in  order  to  confirm  his  claim. 

In  prose,  he  is  devoted  to  George  Meredith. 

In  music,  he  places  Handel  first  among  his  heroes. 
There,  again,  in  great  works  like  the  Messiah,  he  seems 
to  discover  some  quality  of  sublimity  which  elates  and 
inspires  him. 

But  there,  again,  his  living  passion  is  really  national- 
ist and  based  on  national  affections.  The  only  music 
that  profoundly  moves  him — touches  his  soul — is  the 
music  of  the  old  Welsh  hymns  and  folk-songs.  Not 
long  ago  he  spoke  up  boldly  for  the  music  and  litera- 
ture of  his  own  nation  before  all  the  world.1  There 

*At  the  Welsh  Eisteddfod  of  1917. 


V 


340  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

he  voiced  his  own  deepest  conviction  on  these  matters. 
The  music  and  songs  of  his  own  people  strike  the  deep- 
est chord  in  his  nature. 

In  religion  his  outlook  always  seems  to  be  broadly 
Christian  rather  than  sectarian.  Brought  up  in  his 
uncle's  creed  of  the  "Disciples  of  Christ,"  which  is 
really  an  attempt  to  hark  back  to  the  purity  of  the 
early  Gospel  teaching,  he  has  an  inherited  hatred  for 
dogmas.  He  is  very  fond  of  such  parables  as  those  of 
the  Good  Samaritan,  which  he  instinctively  regards  as 
the  best  comment  on  the  claims  of  priestcraft. 

He  has  a  profound  interest  in  all  forms  of  Chris- 
tianity. There  was  a  time,  many  years  ago,  when  he 
was  fond  of  going  the  round  of  the  Churches.  He 
would  also  listen  in  the  old  days  with  the  closest  inter- 
est to  the  discourses  of  the  Salvationist  preachers  on 
Wandsworth  Common;  and  he  would  often  contribute 
to  their  collections,  and  talk  to  their  officers.  And 
yet,  at  the  other  extreme,  he  has  always  had  a  curious 
admiration  for  Roman  Catholicism.  He  would  some- 
times argue  that  the  Methodist  discipline  in  Wales  was 
founded  on  the  Catholic  model.  I  remember  going 
with  him  into  a  London  Catholic  Church  where  he  lis- 
tened with  rapt  attention  to  the  chanting  of  the  Latin 
psalms.  There  was  something  in  the  roll  of  the  lan- 
guage which  penetrated  and  held  him.  But  he  was 
always  a  great  listener.  He  would  never  complain  at 
the  length  of  a  sermon.  When  at  Brighton  he  would 
take  his  friends  to  listen  to  the  preaching  of  a  young 
Nonconformist  minister  at  whose  feet  he  sat  with 
whole-hearted  admiration.  He  would  always  argue 
that  the  standard  of  preaching  among  the  Noncon- 
formists had  steadily  risen  and  was  now  higher  than 


HIGHWAYS  AND  BYWAYS  341 

among  the  Anglicans.  He  attributed  that  fact  very 
largely  to  post-graduate  colleges  like  Mansfield.  He 
was  a  great  admirer  of  Principal  Fairbairn,  and  would 
listen  to  that  great  man's  hour-long  discourses  without 
moving  an  eyelid. 

Wit  is  his  most  sparkling  characteristic;  and  there 
are  few  companies  of  talkers  among  whom  he  is  not 
the  wittiest.  His  laugh  will  change  the  mood  of  the 
gravest  men,  just  as  his  smile  has  been  known  to  affect 
the  attitude  of  immense  multitudes.  And  yet  wit  is  not 
his  greatest  gift.  I  should  place  higher  that  power  of 
insight  into  deep  truths  which  he  will  display  in  sym- 
pathetic company.  Generally  the  theme  of  this  insight 
will  be  politics ;  and  there  is  no  subject  which  he  is  more 
swift  to  illuminate  with  telling  phrase.  In  these  moods 
he  will  seem  to  be  looking  at  all  parties,  and  even  at 
himself,  from  the  outside.  It  is  an  extraordinary  gift 
of  detachment,  literary  and  artistic  in  its  nature,  and 
peculiarly  rare  in  a  party  politician.  It  goes  with  a 
Celtic  love  of  whimsical  paradox,  like  the  talk  of  a  man 
at  his  ease,  a  little  disturbing  to  the  strait  sect  of  the 
faithful  party  men. 

But  it  will  not  always  be  politics  that  his  mind  plays 
on  in  this  manner.  In  moments  of  relaxation  he  will 
take  a  wider  range.  Sometimes  it  will  be  this  very 
subject  of  religion,  which  is  never  very  far  absent  from 
his  thoughts.  "Christianity,"  he  said  to  me  once,  "is 
like  a  gold-mine.  We  are  always  imagining  that  it  is 
exhausted,  and  that  no  more  gold  can  come  out  of  it. 
Then  humanity  digs  a  little  deeper,  and  it  always  comes 
across  a  fresh  seam."  He  always  seems  to  be  digging 
a  little  deeper  himself. 


842  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

His  judgments  of  great  men  who  came  before  are 
always  just  a  little  inclined  to  severity,  perhaps  as  a 
rebound  from  the  snobbery  of  history.  Looking  round 
at  that  great  gallery  of  the  Englishmen  of  Napoleonic 
days  which  adorns  the  breakfast-room  at  10,  Downing 
Street — Pitt,  Wellington,  Nelson,  Fox,  Burke — he  said 
once:  "None  of  them  were  very  great — the  greatest 
of  them  all  was  the  man  in  the  little  frame  in  the  cor- 
ner— the  man  they  honoured  least — the  Irishman,  Ed« 
mund  Burke."  Perhaps  it  was  the  orator  and  the 
thinker  in  Burke  that  drew  him.  Or  perhaps,  even 
more,  the  Celt. 

But  it  would  be  unfair  to  take  him  too  seriously  in 
these  judgments.  He  is  above  all  things  a  conversa- 
tionalist in  regard  to  all  such  matters.  It  is  only  in 
politics  that  he  would  ask  to  be  taken  as  an  expert. 
There  he  works  very  gravely  and  arduously.  It  is 
sometimes  said  that  he  does  not  read  much.  When  he 
can,  indeed,  he  prefers,  like  many  very  busy  men,  to 
acquire  knowledge  by  the  ear;  and  he  likes  to  meet  men 
who  know,  and  to  learn  from  them.  But  he  can  read 
widely  and  deeply  when  he  thinks  it  necessary.  He 
will  read  steadily  through  great  Blue-books  when  he  is 
preparing  a  parliamentary  case;  and  when  he  was  pre- 
paring for  the  Insurance  Act  he  studied  deeply  and 
widely  the  whole  literature  of  English  social  conditions, 
and  in  the  parliamentary  debates  he  displayed  astonish- 
ing mastery. 

He  is  a  great  newspaper  reader.  It  is  his  habit  to 
read  practically  the  chief  daily  newspapers  in  bed  in 
the  morning  before  he  comes  down  to  breakfast;  and 
it  is  somewhat  disconcerting  for  his  breakfast  guests 
to  discover  that  he  already  knows  all  the  news  of  the 


HIGHWAYS  AND  BYWAYS  343 

day.  He  never  reads  either  a  newspaper  or  a  letter  at 
any  meal.  He  talks  and  attends  to  his  guests,  as  every 
civilised  host  should  do. 

"He  always  speaks  to  me  as  if  I  were  the  only  per- 
son in  the  world,"  said  one  who  met  him  rarely,  and 
was  opposed  to  him  in  politics.  That  utterance  ex- 
plains, perhaps,  better  than  any  other  the  secret  of  his 
social  power.  He  has  a  profound  sense  of  equality, 
and  will  treat  the  humblest  human  being*as  courteously 
as  the  highest.  He  is  always  very  popular  with  humble 
people  who  serve  him,  such  as  hall-porters  or  maid- 
servants. 

Not,  indeed,  that  he  suffers  from  that  inverted  snob- 
bery which  puts  its  boots  on  drawing-room  sofas  and 
reserves  its  insolence  for  crowned  heads.  It  is  well 
known  that  King  George  V  and  Mr.  Lloyd  George  are 
sincere  friends,  and  bound  by  mutual  respect  and  ad- 
miration. The  friendship  began  after  the  death  of  the 
King's  father,  and  has  deepened  ever  since.  They 
have  much  in  common — habits  of  arduous  industry,  the 
love  of  home  and  family,  the  passion  for  simple  things. 
In  private  he  constantly  expresses  his  deep  esteem  and 
regard  for  the  King  as  a  man  and  a  father.  He  is 
thoroughly  at  home  in  that  happy  domestic  atmosphere 
of  the  present  Court. 

He  is  a  splendid  travelling  companion;  he  loves  the 
novelty  and  stimulus  of  foreign  touring.  He  likes  the 
friendly  open-air  life  of  foreign  capitals;  and  he  is 
never  tired  of  exploring  new  cities.  They  come  back 
now  as  radiant  memories — those  travels  over  Europe 
which  we  took  together  in  earlier,  peaceful  days — in 
France  and  the  Tyrol,  over  plains  and  mountains, 
through  villages  and  cities. 


344  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

One  experience  comes  vividly  back.  We  were  stay- 
ing in  a  little  Tyrolese  village  named  Vent.  Some  of 
us,  Being  mountain  climbers  by  election,  had  set  off  at 
3  a.m.,  the  climber's  hour,  to  mount  a  high  snow-peak, 
the  Similaun.  We  returned  in  the  afternoon  to  find 
that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  had  disappeared  from  the  inn. 

He  returned  later  and  told  us  his  experience.  He 
had  tired  of  his  reading,  looked  up  at  the  glistening 
peaks  and  decided  that  he,  too,  could  and  would  climb 
mountains.  He  had  taken  his  stick,  set  off  alone,  and 
proceeded  to  attack  the  nearest  peak,  without  ice-axe 
or  guide.  He  surmounted  a  rock-ridge,  crossed  a 
glacier,  and  reached  a  distant  height.  None  of  us 
could  comprehend  how  he  managed  to  return  alive. 

There  it  is  again,  in  small  matters  as  in  big — this 
note  of  daring,  of  refusal  to  accept  defeat,  of  assertive 
invincibility.  It  is  the  key-note  of  his  character.  In 
every  study  of  David  Lloyd  George  it  pursues  you 
everywhere  and  all  the  time. 

There  never  was  a  time  in  human  history  when  such 
a  quality  was  more  needed.  Frowning  heights  lie  be- 
hind and  in  front  of — roaring  cataracts  of  catastrophe 
— gleaming  peaks  of  suffering  and  sacrifice — frozen 
glaciers  of  death,  seamed  and  crevassed  with  agony. 
May  he  help  us  to  win  through! 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THROUGH  FOREIGN  EYES 

Praise  enough 

To  fill  the  ambition  of  a  private  man, 
That  Chatham's  language  was  his  mother  tongue 
And  Wolfe's  great  name  compatriot  with  his  own. 

COWPER. 

TRAVELLING  about  the  world  before  the  Great  War, 
no  one  could  fail  to  notice  that  the  name  of  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  had  already  become  an  ensign.  Men  had  be- 
gun to  apply  it  to  that  particular  type  of  statesman, 
becoming  happily  less  rare,  who  take  risks  on  behalf 
of  the  "common  people."  It  had  become  a  way  of 
classifying  a  statesman  to  speak  of  him  as  "Our  Lloyd 
George."  This  was  especially  the  case  with  little  na- 
tions. In  Norway,  for  instance,  during  the  winter  of 
1913-14,  I  found  that  that  remarkable  social  reformer, 
Mr.  Castberg,  was  generally  spoken  of  as  the  "Nor- 
wegian Lloyd  George" ;  and  on  meeting  him  I  was  sur- 
prised to  find  how  closely  he  was  modelling  his  policy 
on  that  of  the  British  statesman.  His  chief  aspiration 
was  to  meet  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  discuss  with  him 
his  own  schemes  for  simplifying  and  enlarging  Nor- 
wegian social  insurance  and  reforming  their  land  sys- 
tem. 

This  was  but  one  example  of  a  very  general 
tendency.  There  was  another  remarkable  fact.  Those 

345 


346  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

who  met  and  talked  with  Socialists  either  in  France  or 
in  Germany  during  1912-14,  must  have  been  astonished 
to  discover  that,  in  speaking  of  Great  Britain,  their 
thoughts  were  concerned  not  with  any  British  Socialist 
leader,  but  almost  always  with  Mr.  Lloyd  George. 
The  reason  of  this  was  simple,  but  illuminating.  Eu- 
ropean Socialism  had  for  half  a  century  been  hand- 
cuffed to  an  impracticable  idealism.  Here  was  a  man 
who  achieved  things.  He  might  be  an  opportunist  and 
a  compromiser.  Well,  then,  there  was  something  to 
be  said  for  opportunism  and  compromise.  For  the 
great  thing  was  that,  while  all  the  idealists  were  still 
dreaming,  this  man  was  awake  and  doing.1 

Apart  from  the  Socialists,  there  was  one  European 
statesman  who,  long  before  the  war,  already  realised 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  as  a  possible  European  force.  That 
was  the  great  Cretan  Greek,  M.  Venizelos.  The  in- 
stinctive mutual  regard  and  respect  of  these  two  men 
is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  things  in  latter-day  poli- 
tics. There  was  telepathy  in  it.  Across  the  length  of 
Europe  they  seemed  to  have  caught  some  message  from 
one  another  even  before  they  were  acquainted.  It  was 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  who  especially  urged  on  the  Greek 
Government  that  M.  Venizelos  should  come  to  the 
London  Conference  of  1912.  It  was  on  that  visit  that 
they  met  at  the  house  of  a  friend  and  had  a  long 
conversation.  They  found  much  in  common — a  com- 
mon hope  for  the  little  nations,  a  common  belief  in  the 
unity  and  federation  of  the  Balkan  States  as  the  one 
hope  of  the  Near  East. 

1 A  remarkable  instance  of  this  comes  to  hand.  Prince  Kropotkin, 
in  addressing  the  Moscow  Conference  (August  1917),  told  the  Russian 
Socialists  that  there  was  more  Socialism  in  Mr.  Lloyd  George's 
speeches  than  in  all  their  dreams. 


THROUGH  FOREIGN  EYES  347 

It  was  after  this  that  M.  Venizelos  said  to  a  friend 
— "Mr.  Lloyd  George  will  save  Europe." 

It  was  only  gradually  that  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
emerged  in  Western  Europe  as  a  commanding  figure 
in  the  world  war.  It  was  the  French  who  first  among 
European  nations  discovered  him  as  a  European.  This 
was  partly,  no  doubt,  from  some  instinctive  sympathy 
between  the  Gaul  and  the  Celt ;  for  very  large  numbers 
of  Frenchmen — the  Bretons — are  actually  still  Celtic — 
even  Welsh — both  in  thought  and  language. 

It  was  also  that  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  in  his  great 
munitions  campaign,  took  so  many  ideas  from  the 
French  and  realised  in  a  moment,  across  the  gulf  of 
language,  the  extraordinary  swiftness  and  power  of 
the  French  mind,  their  amazing  courage  and  capacity 
in  enterprise  and  organisation.  We  have  seen  how, 
early  in  the  war,  he  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  French  Social- 
ist Minister,  M.  Albert  Thomas;  and  how,  at  the 
Boulogne  Conference  of  June,  1915,  he  learned  from 
the  French  gunners.  It  would  be  foolish  *to  pretend 
that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  talks  French  very  well.  But 
he  has  learnt  to  understand  their  spoken  language  when 
it  is  uttered  by  masters  like  M.  Briand  and  M.  Thomas. 

But  it  was  not  till  1916  that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  stood 
out  to  the  French  with  a  bright,  particular  light  of  his 
own.  Amid  the  doubts  and  hesitations  of  their  own 
politicians  they  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  man  across  the 
Channel  who  dared  to  lead — who  ventured  to  tell,  the 
people  the  unpleasant  truths,  and  to  direct  them  to 
unpleasant  duties. 

"A  speaker  full  of  free  and  generous  inspira- 
tion," says  M.  Georges  Leygues  in  the  Evenement 


348  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

of  July  yth,  1916,  greeting  his  appointment  to  the 
Ministry  of  War,  "he  never  fails  in  his  perception 
of  realities,  and  he  goes  straight  to  the  fact.  Pas- 
sionate interpreter  of  the  soul  of  his  people,  which 
he  knows  so  well  in  all  its  phases — living  incarna- 
tion of  the  ardent  Welsh  race,  he  enjoys  a  real 
ascendency  over  the  masses.  He  can  make  them 
understand  and  accept  the  length  of  the  effort  nec- 
essary to  shake  that  which  most  offends  the  proud 
people  of  the  West — that  boastful  and  brutal  bar- 
rack-yard spirit  under  which  the  German  military 
caste  designed  to  bring  the  free  mind  of  the 
world." 

In  December,  1916,  during  the  great  ministerial 
crisis  which  led  to  the  Lloyd  George  Premiership,  these 
French  writers  saw  far  more  clearly  than  the  journal- 
ists of  London  what  was  at  stake.  In  London,  on  both 
sides,  the  writers  and  politicians  were  too  much  ab- 
sorbed in  the  personal  and  party  issue — they  regarded 
it  too  much  as  a  conflict  of  newspaper  "combines."  In 
France,  on  the  other  hand,  the  journalists  all  realised 
that  the  difference  turned  round  great  issues — great 
questions  of  method  in  the  conduct  of  the  war.  Here 
is  what  that  great  journal,  Le  Temps,  wrote  on  De- 
cember 7th,  1917 : 

"The  English  ministerial  crisis  is  just  a  conflict, 
at  an  acute  stage,  of  two  principles  and  methods 
of  government.  One  represents  the  normal  main- 
tenance of  traditions,  or  rather  of  conventions, 
which  have  stood  the  proof  of  long  administra- 
tion— the  ordinary  march  of  the  governmental 


THROUGH  FOREIGN  EYES  349 

machine.  According  to  this  view,  that  machine 
can  give  us  its  full  value,  if  only  all  its  wheels  are 
strengthened  without  being  modified.  The  other 
view  holds  that  there  must  be  new  simplifications 
of  the  machinery.  The  driving  power  must  be 
organised  and  concentrated  in  one  control — and 
that  a  control  of  energy.  The  time  of  good  in- 
tentions has  passed.  This  is  no  longer  an  affair 
of  'Wait  and  see.'  Mr.  Lloyd  George  takes  his 
stand  clearly  and  simply  on  the  side  of  decisive 
action." 

The  Temps  was  not  alone.  Philippe  Millet,  writing 
in  L'CEimre  on  the  same  day,  showed  that  he  had  a 
glimpse  of  the  same  issue : 

"It  is  necessary  to  look  beyond  the  conflict  of 
persons.  Then  one  discovers  a  practically  unani- 
mous desire  to  constitute  at  last  a  true  War  Gov- 
ernment. What  England  has  in  her  mind  is  the 
formation  of  a  sort  of  Committee  of  Public 
Safety." 

England,  he  perceived,  had  become  more  revolution- 
ary than  France. 

"Conscription  had  made  a  greater  change  in 
England  because  it  was  in  itself  a  revolution.  Be- 
ginning later  than  ourselves,  the  English  have 
taken  on  the  habit  of  changing  their  political 
organisation  at  great  speed  and  as  fast  as  the  war 
compels  them;  and  their  acquired  pace  is  probably 
in  this  stage  superior  to  ours.  It  is  in  England 
rather  than  in  France  that  one  sees  at  this  mo- 
ment the  spirit  of  Carnot  reviving." 


350  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Here  surely  was  a  very  profound  political  observa- 
tion. With  the  same  keenness  of  insight  M.  Clemen- 
ceau,  writing  on  July  ist,  1917,  in  L'Homme  Enchaine, 
saw  in  Mr.  Lloyd  George  a  great  political  experi- 
mentalist adapting  his  course  always  to  the  actual 
events  of  the  war: 

"The  English  Prime  Minister  is,  above  all 
things,  a  man  of  action — one  of  those  who,  under 
the  active  impulse  of  living  thought,  apply  them- 
selves to  one  task  only — and  that  is  to  bring  order 
and  method  into  the  plans  and  resolves  which 
come  to  them  from  a  rigorous  scrutiny  of  reali- 
ties." 

Other  French  journalists,  still  seeing  these  incidents 
more  clearly  from  across  the  water,  rejoiced  at  the 
change  on  the  broadest  possible  lines.  "The  state  of 
war,"  wrote  M.  Gustave  Tery,  "demands  that  all  de- 
liberations should  be  brief  and  decisions  prompt.  Now 
how  can  they  possibly  be  so,  if  all  power  is  exercised 
by  two  dozen  Ministers  who  pass  half  their  time  in  dis- 
cussion and  the  other  half  in  deploring  their  impo- 
tence?" Gustave  Herve  was  even  more  outspoken  in 
La  Fictoire  (December  yth,  1916)  : 

"Roughly  the  veils  are  torn  aside  in  all  the 
allied  countries;  and  from  Petrograd  to  Paris, 
from  London  to  Rome,  the  whole  world  turns 
anxiously  towards  their  Governments,  crying,  'We 
want  leaders!' 

"Lloyd  George  has  been  the  first  in  our  great 
countries  of  the  West  to  hear  the  cry  of  the 
people." 


THROUGH  FOREIGN  EYES  351 

M.  Fitzmaurice,  in  the  Figaro,  foresaw  how  the 
crisis  would  end: 

"Perhaps  he  will  not  have  the  support  of  all 
his  colleagues  of  to-day,  some  of  whom  are  pre- 
cisely those  whose  delays  and  decisions  he  was 
arraigning,  and  from  whose  hands  he  wished  to 
take  the  War  Council;  but  he  will  have  with  him 
all  the  men  of  action  of  all  the  parties  who  recog- 
nise in  him  a  true  leader  because  they  have  seen 
him  at  work  and  they  know  that  they  can  count 
on  him.  He  will  have  with  him  all  the  English 
people  and  all  the  Allies." 

The  Matin  on  the  same  day  (December  7th)   an- 
alysed the  position  as  follows: 

"In  reality  the  conflict  which  divides  the  Eng- 
lish political  world  is  nothing  new  in  the  history 
of  peoples.  In  moments  of  great  gravity,  even  of 
less  gravity  than  the  present  time,  there  has  often 
been  felt  this  imperious  necessity  to  trust  the  man- 
agement of  affairs  to  men  of  energy.  Even  revo- 
lutions have  arisen,  in  England  itself,  and  several 
times,  from  the  discontent  created  by  Ministers 
who  were  excellent  in  moments  of  calm  but  feeble 


The  Journal  wrote  thus : 

"One  element  dominates  the  situation.  It  Is  the 
preponderating  position  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George. 
No  Prime  Minister  could  govern  to-day  without 
asking  not  so  much  for  his  collaboration  as  for 
his  directions.  Lloyd  George  is  the  soul  of  Eng- 


352  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

land  at  war,  and  the  principal  combative  arm  of 
Great  Britain.  Why  keep  him  then  in  the  second 
political  place?  The  brain  that  conceives  ought 
also  to  be  the  will  that  directs." 

It  is,  indeed,  a  remarkable  proof  of  the  interest 
taken  by  Frenchmen  to-day  in  the  personality  of  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  that  perhaps  the  best  of  all  the  shorter 
sketches  of  his  career  has  been  written  by  M.  Paul 
Louis  Hervier  and  published  by  that  enterprising  mag- 
azine, Je  Sais  Tout,  in  its  issue  of  April  I5th,  1917. 

To-day,  indeed,  it  is  scarcely  too  much  to  say  that 
in  France  Mr.  Lloyd  George  is  the  best  known  and 
loved  of  all  European  statesmen — not  even  excluding 
the  statesmen  of  France  itself. 

Or  turn  to  another  splendid  European  Ally — Italy. 
There,  too,  Mr.  Lloyd  George  is  well  appreciated  as  a 
leader  in  the  Entente  Alliance.  Here  is  a  passage 
from  the  Secolo  in  December,  1916: 

Once  more  we  see  Lloyd  George,  the  watchful, 
the  innovator,  the  inaugurator  of  new  ideas.  He 
has  known  how,  in  the  country  classic  for  its  in- 
dividualism, to  strengthen  and  enlarge  the  sphere 
of  State  action.  His  first  political  experiments 
from  1906  to  1914  were  all  directed  to  destroy 
the  laissez-faire  system,  and  to  substitute  for  it 
the  direct  and  co-ordinated  action  of  the  State, 
especially  when  the  action  of  the  State  attacked 
the  privileges  of  the  rich  classes.  To-day  Lloyd 
George  seeks  to  bring  into  being  a  veritable  "War 
Socialism." 

The  Giornale  a" Italia  took  the  same  line : 


THROUGH  FOREIGN  EYES  353 

In  comparison  with  the  preceding  administra- 
tion, the  new  Government  is  distinguished  for  its 
firmness  of  decision.  England  takes  another  step 
along  the  path  of  warlike  evolution.  .  .  .  Lloyd 
George's  power  is  the  power  of  a  warrior,  who 
is  determined  to  subordinate  every  private  inter- 
est, that  the  interest  of  the  whole  nation  may  pre- 
vail. .  .  .  He  voices  the  conscience  of  the  whole 
British  Empire,  which  fully  realises  that  every 
barrier  must  be  overturned,  every  obstacle  over- 
come, that  stands  in  the  way  of  the  development 
of  those  resources  for  war  without  which  it  is 
impossible  to  beat  the  enemy. 

The  Idea  Nazlonale  echoed  the  same  view: 

There  is  a  new  feeling  among  the  Governments 
of  the  Entente — a  new  determination  to  conquer 
"without  the  aid  of  time."  The  old  Governments 
were  characterised  by  their  conviction  that  time 
was  a  substantial  ally.  This  constituted  an  ele- 
ment of  weakness.  The  speech  of  Lloyd  George, 
however,  is  an  authentic  interpretation  of  the  signs 
of  the  times.  .  .  . 

In  an  interview  with  the  Morning  Post  in  Decem- 
ber, 1916,  that  remarkable  Italian,  Signer  Bissolato, 
expressed  these  views : 

"You  ask  me  what  I  think  of  Lloyd  George? 
That  is  tantamount  to  asking  me  what  I  think  of 
England.  It  is  rare  in  history  that  a  nation  has 
found  itself  as  perfectly  identified  with  one  man 
as  England  is  to-day  with  Lloyd  George.  The 


354  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

world,  enemies  and  friends  included,  stands 
amazed  by  the  energy  Lloyd  George  displays  in 
dealing  with  the  huge  difficulties  that  the  war  has 
raised.  But  few  know  that  in  the  energy  of  this 
one  man  is  apparent  the  energy  of  the  whole  Eng- 
lish nation.  What  is  particularly  fortunate  is  his 
decisive  arrival  to  power  at  this  juncture.  I  say 
.  this  because  if  a  nation  at  such  critical  times  as 
these  does  not  find  the  man  who  is  destined  to 
lead  it,  it  runs  the  danger  of  remaining  like  the 
giant  who  cannot  find  a  weapon  to  fight  with  in  a 
conflict  which  is  to  decide  his  fate.  .  .  .  Eng- 
land's good  fortune  in  having  found  Lloyd 
George  is  the  good  fortune  of  the  whole  Entente." 

Let  us  cross  from  Europe  to  our  new  and  splendid 
Ally,  the  United  States.  There  the  career  of  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  has  always  been  followed  with  the  closest 
interest.  There  was  a  touch  of  enterprise — a  salt 
savour — about  his  Budget  that  took  the  fancy  of  a 
country  always  in  love  with  daring.  The  quick  and 
observant  journalists  who  watch  affairs  in  England  on 
behalf  of  the  American  democracy  were  already  warn- 
ing their  people  that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  putting 
them  out  of  date.  In  a  very  remarkable  sketch  of  Mr. 
Lloyd  George's  land  proposals  sent  to  the  American 
Press  in  April  of  1912  by  Mr.  James  Creelman,  he 
told  them  that  England  was  on  the  verge  of  a  revolu- 
tion that  wouToT  make  America  look  old-fashioned. 

"These  are  stirring  and  epoch-making  times  in 
Old  England. 

"The  old  and  powerful  order  of  things  is  about 
to  pass  away." 


THROUGH  FOREIGN  EYES  355 

And  in  his  bright  American  way  he  depicted  the 
English  aristocracy  crying  out : 

"Oh!  for  a  way  to  get  rid  of  the  grey-eyed, 
smiling  little  Welsh  demon  who  sits  at  the  Im- 
perial Treasury  planning  new  taxes  on  wealth  and 
land;  who  puts  evil  ideas  of  social  justice  into  the 
Lead  of  the  calm,  keen,  adroit  Prime  Minister  and 
all  the  rest  of  the  Cabinet,  and  who  has  bewitched 
the  once  humble  and  contented  British-people  until 
they  no  longer  reverence  or  respect  orthodoxy  or 
the  nobility  and  upper  classes !" 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  has  always  been  fully  as  interest- 
ing to  the  leading  men  of  America.  When  they  visit 
England,  it  is  he  whom  they  most  desire  to  see  and  to 
meet.  President  Wilson  looks  at  the  world  with  a 
slower,  calmer  gaze,  and  arrives  at  his  conclusions  very 
much  more  gradually. 

But  President  Roosevelt  always  held  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  in  a  fierce  admiration,  not  unmingled  with  envy 
for  his  success  in  carrying  with  him  a  militant  democ- 
racy. Mr.  Roosevelt  wrote  shortly  before  his  death  as 
follows  to  a  public  man  in  his  country: 

"Give  my  heartiest  regards  to  Lloyd  George. 
Do  tell  him  I  admire  him  immensely.  I  have  al- 
ways fundamentally  agreed  with  his  social  pro- 
gramme, but  I  wish  it  supplemented  by  Lord 
Roberts's  external  programme.  Nevertheless,  my 
agreement  with  him  in  programme  is  small  com- 
pared with  the  fact  that  I  so  greatly  admire  the 
character  he  is  now  showing  in  this  great  crisis. 
It  is  often  true  that  the  only  way  to  render  great 


356  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

services  is  by  willingness  on  the  part  of  the  states- 
man to  lose  his  future,  or,  at  any  rate,  his  present 
position  in  political  life,  just  exactly  as  the  soldier 
may  have  to  pay  with  his  physical  life  in  order  to 
render  service  in  battle." 

As  to  our  own  far-flung  Empire,  there  never  has 
been  much  doubt  about  their  views  in  regard  to  Mr. 
Lloyd  George. 

There  are  enough  Welshmen  in  Canada  to  see  to 
that  Dominion.  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier,  in  a  letter  of 
introduction  written  a  year  before  his  death,  wrote: 

"Mr.  M.  is  one  of  your  most  ardent  admirers; 
and  if  you  do  not  know  it  let  me  tell  you  that  their 
number  in  this  country  is  legion." 

There  he  certainly  spoke  the  truth. 

Sir  Richard  Flavelle,  the  famous  Canadian  financier, 
was  present  in  London  during  the  great  financial  crisis. 
On  returning  to  Canada,  in  a  speech  at  Ottawa  on 
September  26th,  1916,  he  spoke  as  follows: 

"During  those  days  the  men  who  met  the  Chan- 
cellor (Mr.  Lloyd  George)  in  Committee  were 
struck  with  one  or  two  personal  characteristics. 
One  of  the  noted  ones  was  the  man's  self-efface- 
ment. He  sought  for  no  glory  for  himself.  He 
sought  for  no  recognition  for  himself.  One  of  the 
early  evidences  of  the  measure  which  he  had  taken 
of  the  situation  was  found,  by  the  gentlemen  who 
waited  upon  him,  that  Mr.  Austen  Chamberlain 
sat  by  his  side.  He  crossed  over  to  the  other  side 
of  the  House,  and  he  said — 'I  need  your  assist- 


ance.' ' 


THROUGH  FOREIGN  EYES  357 

Less  expected  than  the  praise  of  Canada  is  the  ad- 
miration of  India.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  has  never  visited 
India,  and  he  would  not  claim  any  special  knowledge 
of  India.  But  India  is  the  country  of  the  poor  man; 
and  the  poor  man  all  over  the  world  has  heard  in  his 
speeches  a  new  call  of  hope.  To  him  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  seems  a  light  in  great  darkness,  the  glimmering 
of  a  new  dawn.  Writing  before  the  war,  the  Indian 
Patriot  said: 

"Of  all  the  statesmen  at  the  head  of  affairs  in 
England  to-day  no  one  exercises  the  imagination 
of  India  so  much  as  Mr.  Lloyd  George.  He  is 
not  known  as  'Mr.'  here,  but  has  gone  over  to  the 
ranks  of  greatness,  and  is  called  simply  'Lloyd 
George.'  His  force  and  his  earnestness  always 
appeal  to  the  imagination.  His  speech  is  care- 
fully read  and  treasured  up.  The  cry  of  India  is 
— 'When  shall  we  have  a  Lloyd  George  over 
here?'  and  the  story  of  his  pensions  for  the  old, 
his  insurance  for  the  sick  has  become  a  legend 
from  the  West. 

"When  will  he  come  as  our  Viceroy?"  is  what 
a  poor  man  asked  the  writer.  And  he  was  dis- 
appointed to  be  told  that  he  may  not  come  at  all. 
'But  then  Mr.  Lloyd  George  has  many  followers, 
and  any  one  of  them,  trained  as  he  is,  may  come !' 
And  here  was  consolation  1" 

"They  all  love  him,  and  are  ready  to  lay  down  life 
for  him;  and  all  because  he  has  done  so  much  for  the 
poor."  That  is  the  verdict  of  India,  where  kindness 
to  the  poor  is  a  first  call  on  all  religions,  and  not  a 
pious  aspiration  controlled  by  the  Poor  Law. 


358  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Then  there  are  the  little  "Neutrals."  They  ought, 
by  all  the  rules,  to  have  seen  the  best  of  the  game. 
There  is  a  remarkable  article  in  the  Journal  de  Geneve 
of  May  1 5th,  1917,  which  seems  to  embody  the  judg- 
ment of  the  most  cautious  and  level-headed  of  all  the 
neutral  observers  of  the  war: 

"Mr.  Lloyd  George  has  been  called  'the  Prime 
Minister  of  Europe.'  There  is  truth  in  that  utter- 
ance. Of  all  the  statesmen  who  exercise  to-day  an 
influence  over  the  destinies  of  the  world,  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  is  the  most  attractive,  the  most  per- 
sonal, the  most  wilful,  the  most  audacious.  More 
than  all  the  others,  he  sees  the  future  and  prepares 
for  it. 

"He  has  two  talents  which  complete  his  outfit. 
He  knows  how  to  will,  and  he  knows  how  to 
speak." 

Finally,  there  is  one  tribute  that  comes  from  abroad 
to  Mr.  Lloyd  George  which  certainly  ought  not  to  be 
omitted  from  this  survey : 

Of  all  British  statesmen,  he  was,  during  the  war,  the 
best  abused  in  the  enemy  Press. 


APPENDIX  A 
PRINCIPAL  DATES  IN  MR.  LLOYD  GEORGE'S  LIFE 


Birth  of  David  Lloyd  George  . 

Death  of  his  father 

Is  taken  to  Llanystundwy 

Enters  the  village  school 

Passes  Law  Preliminary 

Enters  solicitor's  office  at  Portmadoc 

Family  moves  to  Criccieth 

Visits  Houses  of  Parliament    . 

Speech  on  Egyptian  War  at  Port- 
madoc   

Passes  Law  Finals 

Starts  practice  at  Criccieth 

Starts  practice  at  Portmadoc  . 

Speaks  at  Michael  Davitt's  meeting 

Llanfrothen  case      .... 

Marries  Miss  Maggie  Owen    . 

Adopted  as  Liberal  candidate  in 
Carnarvon  Boroughs 

Elected  Alderman  for  Carnarvon- 
shire County  Council 

Returned  M.P.  at  By-election  (ma- 
jority, 18) 

Fight  over  Clergy  Discipline  Bill     . 

Second  election  (majority,  196) 

Revolt  over  Welsh  Disestablishment 
Bill 

Third  election  (General  Election — 
majority,  194) 

Opposes  Agricultural  Rating  Bill     . 

Opposes  Voluntary  Schools  Bill     . 

Opposes  Tithes  Bill 

359 


January  17,  1863. 
June  7,  1864. 
August  1864. 
1869. 

1877- 
1878. 

May  1880. 
November  1881. 

November  1882. 

1884. 

1884. 

1885. 

1886. 

1888. 

January  24,  1888. 

December  1888. 


April  10,  1890. 

1892. 

July  8,  1892. 


1895. 
1896. 

1897- 
1899. 


360 


THE  PRIME  MINISTER 


Speaks  against  South  African  War 

Opposes  South  African  War  . 

Fourth  election  at  Carnarvon  Bor- 
oughs (majority,  296) 

Mobbed  at  Birmingham  . 

Fights  Education  Bill 

Welsh  Education  Revolt 

Defies  Schools  Coercion  Act    . 

President  of  the  Board  of  Trade     . 

Fifth  election  at  Carnarvon  Bor- 
oughs (majority,  1224)  . 

Settles  Railway  Strike     . 

Becomes  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 

Passes  Old  Age  Pensions  Act 

Visits  Germany       .... 

Introduces  Budget  .... 

Thrown  out  by  Lords 

Sixth  election  at  Carnarvon  Bor- 
oughs (majority,  1,078)  . 

Passes  Budget         .... 

Becomes  member  of  Party  Confer- 
ence   

Seventh  election  at  Carnarvon  Bor- 
oughs (majority,  1,208)  . 

Introduces  Insurance  Bill 

Carries  Insurance  Bill     . 

Land  Campaign       .... 

Great  War  opens    .... 

Becomes  Premier    .... 

Armistice          .         .         . 

General  Election      .... 

Peace  Conference  opens 

Peace  ratified  by  Parliament    . 

Peace  ratified  at  Versailles 


October  27,  1899. 
1900. 

October  6,  1900. 

December  18,  1901. 

1902. 

1903. 

1904. 

1905. 

1906. 

1907. 

April  12,  1908. 

July  1908. 

August  1908. 

April  29,  1909. 

November  1909. 

January  1910. 
April  28,  1910. 

June-November  1910. 

December  1910. 
May  4,  1911. 
December  1911. 
1912-1913. 
August  4,  1914. 
December  1916. 
November  n,  1918. 
December  14,  1918. 
January  18,  1919. 
July  2ist,  1919. 
January  10,  1920. 


APPENDIX  361 

APPENDIX  B 
THE  CRISIS  OF  DECEMBER,  1916 

Correspondence  Between  Mr.  Asquith  and  Mr.  Lloyd 

George 

Memorandum  of  Mr.  Lloyd  George  to  Prime  Minister, 
December  1st,  1916. 

WAR  OFFICE,  WHITEHALL,  S.W. 

1.  THAT  the  War  Committee  consist  of  three  members 
— two  of  whom  must  be  the  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty 
and  the  Secretary  of  State  for  War,  who  should  have  in 
their  offices  deputies  capable  of  attending  to  and  deciding 
all  departmental  business — and  a  third   Minister  without 
portfolio.    One  of  the  three  to  be  Chairman. 

2.  That  the  War  Committee  shall  have  full  powers,  sub- 
ject to  the  supreme  control  of  the  Prime  Minister,  to  direct 
all  questions  connected  with  the  war. 

3.  The  Prime  Minister,  in  his  discretion,  to  have  the 
power  to  refer  any  question  to  the  Cabinet. 

4.  Unless  the  Cabinet,  in  reference  by  the  Prime  Min- 
ister, reverses  decision  of  the  War  Cabinet,  that  decision 
to  be  carried  out  by  the  Department  concerned. 

5.  The  War  Committee  to  have  the  power  to  invite  any 
Minister  and  to  summon  the  expert  advisers  and  officers  of 
any  Department  to  its  meetings. 

10  DOWNING  STREET,  WHITEHALL,  S.W. 
Secret  January  ist,  1916. 

MY  DEAR  LLOYD  GEORGE, 

I  have  now  had  time  to  reflect  on  our  conversation 
this  morning,  and  to  study  your  memorandum. 

Though  I  do  not  altogether  share  your  dark  estimate  and 
forecast  of  the  situation,  actual  and  perspective,  I  am  in 
complete  agreement  that  we  have  reached  a  critical  situation 
in  the  war,  and  that  our  methods  of  procedure,  with  the 


362  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

experience   which    we   have   gained    during   the    last    few 
months,  call  for  reconsideration  and  revision. 

The  two  main  defects  of  the  War  Committee,  which  has 
done  excellent  work,  are : 

(1)  That  its  numbers  are  too  large. 

(2)  That  there  is  delay,  evasion,  and  often  obstruc- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Departments  in  giving  effect  to 
its  decisions. 

I  might  with  good  reason  add  (3)  that  it  is  often  kept  in 
ignorance  by  the  Departments  of  information,  essential  and 
even  vital,  of  a  technical  kind,  upon  the  problems  that  come 
before  it :  and  (4)  that  it  is  overcharged  with  duties,  many 
of  which  might  well  be  relegated  to  subordinate  bodies. 

The  result  is  that  I  am  clearly  of  opinion  that  the  War 
Committee  should  be  reconstituted,  and  its  relation  to  and 
authority  over  the  Departments  be  more  clearly  defined  and 
more  effectively  asserted. 

I  come  now  to  your  specific  proposals. 

In  my  opinion,  whatever  changes  are  made  in  the  com- 
position and  functions  of  the  War  Committee,  the  Prime 
Minister  must  be  its  Chairman.  He  cannot  be  relegated  to 
the  position  of  an  arbiter  in  the  background  or  a  referee  to 
the  Cabinet. 

In  regard  to  its  composition,  I  agree  that  the  War  Secre- 
tary and  the  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty  are  necessary 
members.  I  am  inclined  to  add  to  the  same  category  the 
Minister  of  Munitions.  There  should  be  another  member, 
either  without  portfolio  or  charged  only  with  comparatively 
light  departmental  duties.  One  of  "the  members  should  be 
appointed  Vice-Chairman. 

I  purposely  do  not  in  this  letter  discuss  the  delicate  and 
difficult  question  of  personnel. 

The  Committee  should,  as  far  as  possible,  sit  de  die  diem, 
and  have  full  power  to  see  that  its  decisions  (subject  to 
appeal  to  the  Cabinet)  are  carried  out  promptly  and  effec- 
tively by  the  Departments. 


APPENDIX 

The  reconstitution  of  the  War  Committee  should  be  ac- 
companied by  the  setting  up  of  a  Committee  of  National 
Organisation,  to  deal  with  the  purely  domestic  side  of  war 
problems. '  It  should  have  executive  powers  within  its  own. 
domain. 

The  Cabinet  would  in  all  cases  have  ultimate  authority. 
Yours  very  sincerely, 

(Sd.)  H.  H.  ASQUITH. 

10  DOWNING  STREET,  S.W. 
Secret  December  4th,  1916. 

MY  DEAR  LLOYD  GEORGE, 

Such  productions  as  the  first  leading  article  in  to- 
day's Times,  showing  the  infinite  possibilities  for  misun- 
derstanding and  misrepresentation  of  such  an  arrangement 
as  we  considered  yesterday,  make  me  at  least  doubtful  as 
to  its  feasibility.  Unless  the  impression  is  at  once  corrected 
that  I  am  being  relegated  to  the  position  of  an  irresponsible 
spectator  of  the  war,  I  cannot  possibly  go  on. 

The  suggested  arrangement  was  to  the  following  effect. 
The  Prime  Minister  to  have  supreme  and  effective  control  of 
War  Policy. 

The  agenda  of  the  War  Committee  will  be  submitted  to 
him;  its  Chairman  will  report  to  him  daily;  he  can  direct 
it  to  consider  particular  topics  or  proposals;  and  all  its 
conclusions  will  be  subject  to  his  approval  or  veto.  He  can, 
of  course,  at  his  own  discretion  attend  meetings  of  the 
Committee. 

Yours  sincerely, 

(Sd.)  H.  H.  ASQUITH. 

WAR  OFFICE,  WHITEHALL,  S.W. 
December  4th,  1916. 

MY  DEAR  PRIME  MINISTER, 

I  have  not  seen  the  Times'  article.  But  I  hope  you 
will  not  attach  undue  importance  to  these  effusions.  I  have 
had  these  misrepresentations  to  put  up  with  for  months. 
Northcliffe  frankly  wants  a  smash.  Derby  and  I  do  not. 


364.  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Northcliffe  would  like  to  make  this  and  any  other  rear- 
rangement under  your  Premiership  impossible.  Derby  and 
I  attach  great  importance  to  your  retaining  your  present 
position — effectively.  I  cannot  restrain,  or,  I  fear,  influence 
Northcliffe.  I  fully  accept  in  letter  and  in  spirit  your  sum- 
mary of  the  suggested  arrangement — subject,  of  course,  to 
personnel.  Ever  sincerely, 

(Sd.)   D.  LLOYD  GEORGE. 

10  DOWNING  STREET,  WHITEHALL,  S.W. 
Secret  December  tfh,  1916 

MY  DEAR  LLOYD  GEORGE, 

Thank  you  for  your  letter  of  this  morning. 

The  King  gave  me  to-day  authority  to  ask  and  accept  the 
resignation  of  all  my  colleagues,  and  to  form  a  new  Govern- 
ment on  such  lines  as  I  should  submit  to  him.  I  start  there- 
fore with  a  clean  slate. 

The  first  question  which  I  have  to  consider  is  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  new  War  Committee. 

After  full  consideration  of  the  matter  in  all  its  aspects,  I 
have  come  decidedly  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  not  possible 
that  such  a  Committee  could  be  made  workable  and  effective 
without  the  Prime  Minister  as  its  Chairman.  I  quite  agree 
that  it  will  be  necessary  for  him,  in  view  of  the  other  calls 
upon  his  time  and  energy,  to  delegate  from  time  to  time  the 
Chairmanship  to  another  Minister  as  representative  and 
locum  tenens;  but  (if  he  is  to  retain  the  authority,  which 
corresponds  to  his  responsibility  as  Prime  Minister)  he  must 
continue  to  be,  as  he  always  has  been,  its  permanent  Presi- 
dent. I  am  satisfied,  on  reflection,  that  any  other  arrange- 
ment (such  as,  for  instance,  the  one  which  I  indicated  to  you 
in  my  letter  of  to-day)  would  be  found  in  experience  imprac- 
ticable and  incompatible  with  the  retention  of  the  Prime 
Minister's  final  and  supreme  control. 

The  other  question,  which  you  have  raised,  relates  to  the 
personnel  of  the  Committee.  Here  again,  after  deliberate 


APPENDIX  865 

consideration,  I  find  myself  unable  to  agree  with  some  of 
your  suggestions.  I  think  we  both  agree  that  the  First  Lord 
of  the  Admiralty  must,  of  necessity,  be  a  member  of  the 
Committee. 

I  cannot  (as  I  told  you  yesterday)  be  a  party  to  any  sug- 
gestion that  Mr.  Balfour  should  be  displaced.  The  technical 
side  of  the  Board  of  Admiralty  has  been  reconstituted,  with 
Sir  John  Jellicoe  as  First  Sea  Lord.  I  believe  Mr.  Balfour 
to  be,  under  existing  conditions,  the  necessary  head  of  the 
Board. 

I  must  add  that  Sir  Edward  Carson  (for  whom  personally 
and  in  every  other  way  I  have  the  greatest  regard)  is  not, 
from  the  only  point  of  view  which  is  significant  to  me 
(namely,  the  most  effective  prosecution  of  the  war)  the  man 
best  qualified  among  my  colleagues  present  or  past  to  be  a 
member  of  the  War  Committee. 

I  have  only  to  say,  in  conclusion,  that  I  am  strongly  of 
opinion  that  the  War  Committee  (without  any  disparage- 
ment of  the  existing  Committee,  which  in  my  judgment  is 
a  most  efficient  body,  and  has  done  and  is  doing  invaluable 
work)  ought  to  be  reduced  in  number:  so  that  it  can  sit 
more  frequently,  and  overtake  more  easily  the  daily  problems 
with  which  it  has  to  deal.  But  in  any  reconstruction  of  the 
Committee,  such  as  I  have,  and  have  for  some  time  past  had 
in  view,  the  governing  consideration  to  my  mind  is  the 
special  capacity  of  the  men  who  are  to  sit  on  it  for  the  work 
which  it  has  to  do. 

That  is  a  question  which  I  must  reserve  for  myself  to 
decide.  Yours  very  sincerely, 

(Sd.)  H.  H.  ASQUITH. 

MY  DEAR  PRIME  MINISTER,  December  $th,  1916. 

I  received  your  letter  with  some  surprise. 
On  Friday  I  made  proposals  which  involved  not  merely 
your  retention  of  the  Premiership,  but  the  supreme  control 
of  the  war,  whilst  the  executive  functions,  subject  to  that 


366  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

supreme  control,  were  left  to  others.  I  thought  you  then 
received  these  suggestions  favourably.  In  fact,  you  yourself 
proposed  that  I  should  be  the  Chairman  of  this  Executive 
Committee,  although,  as  you  know,  I  never  put  forward  that 
demand.  On  Saturday  you  wrote  me  a  letter  in  which  you 
completely  went  back  on  that  proposition.  You  sent  for  me 
on  Sunday,  and  put  before  me  other  proposals ;  these  pro- 
posals you  embodied  in  a  letter  written  on  Monday : 

"The  Prime  Minister  to  have  supreme  and  effective 
control  of  war  policy. 

"The  agenda  of  the  War  Committee  will  be  submitted 
to  him;  its  Chairman  will  report  to  him  daily;  he  can 
direct  it  to  consider  particular  topics  or  proposals ;  and 
all  its  conclusions  will  be  subject  to  his  approval  or 
veto.  He  can,  of  course,  at  his  own  discretion,  attend 
meetings  of  the  Committee." 

These  proposals  safeguarded  your  position  and  power  as 
Prime  Minister  in  every  particular.  I  immediately  wrote 
you  accepting  them  "in  letter  and  in  spirit."  It  is  true  that 
on  Sunday  I  expressed  views  as  to  the  constitution  of  the 
Committee,  but  these  were  for  discussion.  To-day  you  have 
gone  back  on  your  own  proposals. 

I  have,  striven  my  utmost  to  cure  the  obvious  defects  of 
the  War  Committee  without  overthrowing  the  Government. 
As  you  are  aware,  on  several  occasions  during  the  last  two 
years  I  have  deemed  it  my  duty  to  express  profound  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  Government's  method  of  conducting  the 
war.  Many  a  time,  with  the  road  to  victory  open  in  front 
of  us,  we  have  delayed  and  hesitated  whilst  the  enemy  were 
erecting  barriers  that  finally  checked  the  approach.  There 
has  been  delay,  hesitation,  lack  of  forethought  and  vision.  I 
have  endeavoured  repeatedly  to  warn  the  Government  of 
the  dangers,  both  verbally  and  in  written  memoranda  and 
letters,  which  I  crave  your  leave  now  to  publish  if  my 
action  is  challenged ;  but  I  have  either  failed  to  secure  deci- 
sions or  I  have  secured  them  when  it  is  too  late  to  avert  the 


APPENDIX  367 

evils.  The  latest  illustration  is  our  lamentable  failure  to  give 
timely  support  to  Roumania. 

I  have  more  than  once  asked  to  be  released  from  my 
responsibility  for  a  policy  with  which  I  was  in  thorough 
disagreement,  but  at  your  urgent  personal  request,  I  re- 
mained in  the  Government.  I  realise  that  when  the  country 
is  in  the  peril  of  a  great  war,  Ministers  have  not  the  same 
freedom  to  resign  on  disagreement.  At  the  same  time  I 
have  always  felt — and  felt  deeply — that  I  was  in  a  false 
position,  inasmuch  as  I  could  never  defend  in  a  whole- 
hearted manner  the  action  of  a  Government  of  which  I  was 
a  member.  We  have  thrown  away  opportunity  after  oppor- 
tunity, and  I  am  convinced,  after  deep  and  anxious  reflec- 
tion, that  it  is  my  duty  to  leave  the  Government  in  order  to 
inform  the  people  of  the  real  condition  of  affairs,  and  to 
give  them  an  opportunity,  before  it  is  too  late,  to  save  their 
native  land  from  a  disaster  which  is  inevitable  if  the  present 
methods  are  longer  persisted  in.  As  all  delay  is  fatal  in 
war,  I  place  my  office  without  further  parley  at  your  dis- 
posal. 

It  is  with  great  personal  regret  that  I  have  come  to  this 
conclusion.  In  spite  of  mean  and  unworthy  insinuations 
to  the  contrary — insinuations  which  I  fear  are  always  in- 
evitable in  the  case  of  men  who  hold  prominent  but  not 
primary  positions  in  any  administration — I  have  felt  a  strong 
personal  attachment  to  you  as  my  Chief.  As  you  yourself 
said  on  Sunday,  we  have  acted  together  for  ten  years  and 
never  a  quarrel,  although  we  have  had  many  a  grave  dif- 
ference on  questions  of  policy.  You  have  treated  me  with 
great  courtesy  and  kindness :  for  all  that  I  thank  you.  Noth- 
ing would  have  induced  me  to  part  now  except  an  over- 
whelming sense  that  the  course  of  action  which  has  been 
pursued  has  put  the  country — and  not  merely  the  country, 
but  throughout  the  world,  the  principles  for  which  you  and 
I  have  always  stood  throughout  our  political  lives — in  the 
greatest  peril  that  has  ever  overtaken  them. 


368  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

As  I  am  fully  conscious  of  the  importance  of  preserving 

national  unity,  I  propose  to  give  your  Government  complete 

support  in  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war;  but  unity 

\  without  action  is  nothing  but  futile  carnage,  and  I  cannot  be 

1  responsible  for  that.     Vigour  and  vision  are  the  supreme 

need  of  this  hour.      Yours  sincerely, 

(Sd.)   D.  LLOYD  GEORGE. 

10  DOWNING  STREET,  S.W. 
Private  December  5th,  1916. 

MY  DEAR  LLOYD  GEORGE, 

I  need  not  tell  you  that  I  have  read  your  letter  of 
to-day  with  much  regret. 

I  do  not  comment  upon  it  for  the  moment,  except  to  say 
that  I  cannot  wholly  accept  your  account  of  what  passed 
between  us  in  regard  to  my  connection  with  the  War  Com- 
mittee. 

In  particular,  you  have  omitted  to  quote  the  first  and  most 
material  part  of  my  letter  of  yesterday. 
Yours  very  sincerely, 

(Sd.)  H.  H.  ASQUITH. 

In  the  meantime,  I  feel  sure  that  you  will  see  the  obvious 
necessity,  in  the  public  interest,  of  not  publishing,  at  this 
moment,  any  part  of  our  correspondence. 

WAR  OFFICE,  S.W. 
MY  DEAR  PRIME  MINISTER,  December  sth,  1916. 

I  cannot  announce  my  resignation  without  assigning 
the  reason.  Your  request  that  I  should  not  publish  the  cor- 
respondence that  led  up  to  and  necessitated  it  places  me 
therefore  in  an  embarrassing  and  unfair  position.  I  must 
give  reasons  for  the  grave  step  I  have  taken.  If  you  forbid 
publication  of  the  correspondence,  do  you  object  to  my  stat- 
ing in  another  form  my  version  of  the  causes  that  led  to  my 
resigning?  Yours  sincerely, 

(Sd.)  D.  LLOYD  GEORGE. 


APPENDIX  369 

As  to  the  first  part  of  your  letter,  the  publication  of  the 
letter  would  cover  the  whole  ground. 

10  DOWNING  STREET,  S.W. 
MY  DEAR  LLOYD  GEORGE,  December  5th,  1916. 

It  may  make  a  difference  to  you  (in  reply  to  your 
last  letter)  if  I  tell  you  at  once  that  I  have  tendered  my 
resignation  to  the  King.  In  any  case,  I  should  deprecate  in 
the  public  interest  the  publication  in  its  present  form  at  this 
moment  of  your  letter  to  me  of  this  morning. 

Of  course,  I  have  neither  the  power  nor  the  wish  to  pre- 
vent your  stating  in  some  other  form  the  causes  which  led 
you  to  take  the  step  which  you  have  taken. 
Yours  very  sincerely, 

(Sd.)  H.  H.  ASQUITH. 


APPENDIX  C 

THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE 
THE  CRITICAL  RUSSIAN  DEBATE  OF  JANUARY,  1919 

BuUitt  Exhibit  No.  14 

McD.  I.C.  114.  Secretaries'  notes  of  a  conversation 
held  in  M.  Pichon's  room,  at  the  Quai  d'Orsay,  on  Tuesday, 
January  2ist,  1919,  at  15  hours  (3  p.m.). 

Present: 

United  States  of  America. — President  Wilson,  Mr.  R. 
Lansing,  Mr.  A.  H.  Frazier,  Colonel  U.  S.  Grant,  Mr.  L. 
Harrison. 

British  Empire. — The  Right  Hon.  D.  Lloyd  George,  the 
Right  Hon.  A.  J.  Balfour,  Lieut.-Col.  Sir  M.  P.  A.  Hankey, 
K.C.B.,  Major  A.  M.  Caccia,  M.V.O.,  Mr.  E.  Phipps. 

France. — M.  Clemenceau,  M.  Pichon,  M.  Dutasta,  H. 
Berthelot,  Captain  A.  Potier. 


370  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

Italy. — Signer  Orlando,  H.  E.  Baron  Sonnino,  Count  Al- 
drovandi,  Major  A.  Jones. 

Japan. — Baron  Makino,  H.  E.  M.  Matsui,  M.  Saburi. 
Interpreter. — Prof.  P.  J.  Mantoux. 

Situation  in  Russia 

M.  Clemenceau  said  they  had  met  together  to  decide  what 
could  be  done  in  Russia  under  present  circumstances. 

President  Wilson  said  that,  in  order  to  have  something 
definite  to  discuss,  he  wished  to  take  advantage  of  a  sugges- 
tion made  by  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  and  to  propose  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  British  proposal.  He  wished  to  suggest  that  the 
various  organised  groups  in  Russia  should  be  asked  to  send 
representatives,  not  to  Paris,  but  to  some  other  place,  such 
as  Salonika,  convenient  of  approach,  there  to  meet  such 
representatives  as  might  be  appointed  by  the  Allies,  in  order 
to  see  if  they  could  draw  up  a  programme  upon  which  agree- 
ment could  be  reached. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  pointed  out  that  the  advantage  of  this 
would  be  that  they  could  be  brought  there  from  Russia 
through  the  Black  Sea  without  passing  through  other  coun- 
tries. 

M.  Sonnino  said  that  some  of  the  representatives  of  the 
various  Governments  were  already  here  in  Paris,  for  exam- 
ple, M.  Sazonoff.  Why  should  not  these  be  heard? 

President  Wilson  expressed  the  view  that  the  various 
parties  should  not  be  heard  separately.  It  would  be  very 
desirable  to  get  all  these  representatives  in  one  place,  and 
still  better,  all  in  one  room,  in  order  to  obtain  a  close  com- 
parison of  views. 

Mr.  Balfour  said  that  a  further  objection  to  M.  Son- 
nino's  plan  was  that  if  M.  SazonofF  was  heard  in  Paris  it 
would  be  difficult  to  hear  the  others  in  Paris  also,  and  M. 
Clemenceau  objected  strongly  to  having  some  of  these 
representatives  in  Paris. 

M.  Sonnino  explained  that  all  the'  Russian  parties  bad 


APPENDIX  371 

some  representatives  here,  except  the  Soviets,  whom  they 
did  not  wish  to  hear. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  remarked  that  the  Bolshevists  were  the 
very  people  some  of  them  wished  to  hear. 

M.  Sonnino  continuing,  said  that  they  had  heard  M. 
LitvinofFs  statements  that  morning. 

(That  was  the  statement  that  Litvinoff  had  made  to  Buck- 
ler, which  the  President  had  read  to  the  council  of  ten  that 
morning.) 

The  Allies  were  now  fighting  against  the  Bolshevists, 
who  were  their  enemies,  and  therefore  they  were  not  obliged 
to  hear  them  with  the  others. 

Mr.  Balfour  remarked  that  the  essence  of  President  Wil- 
son's proposal  was  that  the  parties  must  all  be  heard  at 
one  and  the  same  time. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  expressed  the  view  that  the  acceptance 
of  M.  Sonnino's  proposals  would  amount  to  their  hearing  a 
string  of  people,  all  of  whom  held  the  same  opinion,  and 
all  of  whom  would  strike  the  same  note.  But  they  would 
not  hear  the  people  who  at  the  present  moment  were  actually 
controlling  European  Russia.  In  deference  to  M.  Clemen- 
ceau's  views  they  had  put  forward  this  new  proposal.  He 
thought  it  would  be  quite  safe  to  bring  the  Bolshevist  rep- 
resentatives to  Salonika,  or  perhaps  to  Lemnos.  It  was  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  endeavour  to  make  peace.  The  report 
read  by  President  Wilson  that  morning  went  to  show  that 
the  Bolshevists  were  not  convinced  of  the  error  of  their 
ways,  but  they  apparently  realised  the  folly  of  their  present 
methods.  Therefore  they  were  endeavouring  to  come  to 
terms. 

President  Wilson  asked  to  be  permitted  to  urge  one  aspect 
of  the  case.  As  M.  Sonnino  had  implied,  they  were  all 
repelled  by  Bolshevism,  and  for  that  reason  they  had  placed 
armed  men  in  opposition  to  them.  One  of  the  things  that 
was  clear  in  the  Russian  situation  was  that,  by  opposing 
Bolshevism  with  arms,  they  were  in  reality  serving  the 


372  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

cause  of  Bolshevism.  The  Allies  were  making  it  possible 
for  the  Bolsheviks  to  argue  that  Imperialistic  and  Capitalis- 
tic Governments  were  endeavouring  to  exploit  the  country 
and  to  give  the  land  back  to  the  landlords,  and  so  bring 
about  a  reaction.  If  it  could  be  shown  that  this  was  not 
true,  and  that  the  Allies  were  prepared  to  deal  with  the 
rulers  of  Russia,  much  of  the  moral  force  of  this  argu- 
ment would  disappear.  The  allegations  that  the  Allies  were 
against  the  people,  and  wanted  to  control  their  affairs,  pro- 
vided the  argument  which  enabled  them  to  raise  armies.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  Allies  could  swallow  their  pride  and 
the  natural  repulsion  which  they  felt  for  the  Bolshevists,  and 
see  the  representatives  of  all  organised  groups  in  one  place, 
he  thought  it  would  bring  about  a  marked  reaction  against 
Bolshevism. 

M.  Clemenceau  said  that  in  principle  he  did  not  favour 
conversation  with  the  Bolshevists,  not  because  they  were 
criminals,  but  because  we  would  be  raising  them  to  our  level 
by  saying  that  they  were  worthy  of  entering  into  conversa- 
tion with  us.  The  Bolshevist  danger  was  very  great  at  the 
present  moment.  It  had  invaded  the  Baltic  provinces  and 
Pojand,  and  that  very  morning  they  received  bad  news  re- 
garding its  spread  to  Buda-Pesth  and  Vienna.  Italy,  also, 
was  in  danger.  The  danger  was  probably  greater  there  than 
in  France.  If  Bolshevism,  after  spreading  to  Germany,  were 
to  traverse  Austria  and  Hungary,  and  so  reach  Italy,  Europe 
would  be  faced  with  a  very  great  danger.  Therefore,  some- 
thing must  be  done  against  Bolshevism.  When  listening  to 
the  document  presented  by  President  Wilson  that  morning, 
he  had  been  struck  by  the  cleverness  with  which  the  Bolshe- 
vists were  attempting  to  lay  a  trap  for  the  Allies.  When  the 
Bolshevists  first  came  into  power,  a  breach  was  made  with 
the  Capitalist  Government  on  questions  of  principle,  but 
now  they  offered  funds  and  concessions  as  a  basis  for  treat- 
ing with  them.  He  need  not  say  how  valueless  their  prom- 
ises were,  but,  if  they  were  listened  to,  the  Bolshevists  would 


APPENDIX  373 

go  back  to  their  people  and  say,  "We  offered  them  great 
principles  of  justice,  and  the  Allies  would  have  nothing  to 
do  with  us.  Now  we  offer  money,  and  they  are  ready  to 
make  peace." 

He  admitted  his  remarks  did  not  offer  a  solution.  The 
great  misfortune  was  that  the  Allies  were  in  need  of  a 
speedy  solution.  After  four  years  of  war,  and  the  losses 
and  sufferings  they  had  incurred,  their  populations  could 
stand  no  more.  Russia  also  was  in  need  of  immediate  peace. 
But  its  necessary  evolution  must  take  time.  The  signing  of 
the  world's  peace  could  not  await  Russia's  final  avatar.  Had 
time  been  available,  he  would  suggest  waiting,  for  eventually 
sound  men  representing  common  sense  would  come  to  the 
top.  But  when  would  that  be?  He  could  make  no  fore- 
cast. Therefore  they  must  press  for  an  early  solution. 

To  sum  up,  had  he  been  acting  by  himself,  he  would  tem- 
porise and  erect  barriers  to  prevent  Bolshevism  from  spread- 
ing. But  he  was  not  alone,  and  in  the  presence  of  'is  col- 
leagues he  felt  compelled  to  make  some  concession,  as  it  was 
essential  that  there  should  not  be  even  the  appearance  of 
disagreement  amongst  them.  The  concession  came  easier 
after  hearing  President  Wilson's  suggestions.  He  thought 
they  should  make  a  very  clear  and  convincing  appeal  to  all 
reasonable  peoples,  emphatically  stating  that  they  did  not 
wish  in  any  way  to  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Rus- 
sia, and  especially  that  they  had  no  intention  of  restoring 
Czardom.  The  object  of  the  Allies  being  to  hasten  the  crea- 
tion of  a  strong  Government,  they  proposed  to  call  together 
representatives  of  all  parties  to  a  conference.  He  would 
beg  President  Wilson  to  draft  a  paper,  fully  explaining  the 
position  of  the  Allies  to  the  whole  world,  including  the  Rus- 
sians and  the  Germans. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  agreed,  and  gave  notice  that  he  wished 
to  withdraw  his  own  motion  in  favour  of  President  Wil- 
son's. 

Mr.  Balfour  said  that  he  understood  that  all  these  people 


374  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

were  to  be  asked  on  an  equality.  On  these  terms  he  thought 
the  Bolshevists  would  refuse,  and  by  their  refusal  they 
would  put  themselves  in  a  very  bad  position. 

M.  Sonnino  said  that  he  did  not  agree  that  the  Bolshevists 
would  not  come.  He  thought  they  would  be  the  first  to 
come,  because  they  would  be  eager  to  put  themselves  on  an 
equality  with  the  others.  He  would  remind  his  colleagues 
that,  before  the  Peace  of  Brest-Litovsk  was  signed,  the  Bol- 
shevists promised  all  sorts  of  things,  such  as  to  refrain  from 
propaganda,  but  since  that  peace  had  been  concluded  they 
had  broken  all  their  promises,  their  one  idea  being  to  spread 
revolution  in  all  other  countries.  His  idea  was  to  collect 
together  all  the  anti-Bolshevist  parties,  and  help  them  to 
make  a  strong  Government,  provided  they  pledged  them- 
selves  not  to  serve  the  forces  of  reaction,  and  especially  not 
to  touch  the  land  question,  thereby  depriving  the  Bolshevists 
of  their  strongest  argument.  Should  they  take  these  pledges, 
he  would  be  prepared  to  help  them. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  enquired  how  this  help  would  be  given. 

M.  Sonnino  replied  that  help  would  be  given  with  soldiers 
to  a  reasonable  degree  or  by  supplying  arms,  food  and 
money.  For  instance,  Poland  asked  for  weapons,  and 
munitions ;  the  Ukraine  asked  for  weapons.  All  the  Allies 
wanted  was  to  establish  a  strong  Government.  The  reason 
that  no  strong  Government  at  present  existed  was  that  no 
party  could  risk  taking  the  offensive  against  Bolshevism 
without  the  assistance  of  the  Allies.  He  would  enquire  how 
the  parties  of  order  could  possibly  succeed  without  the  as- 
sistance of  the  Allies.  President  Wilson  had  said  that  they 
should  put  aside  all  pride  in  the  matter.  He  would  point 
out  that  for  Italy,  and  probably  for  France  also,  as  M.  Cle- 
menceau  had  stated,  it  was  in  reality  a  question  of  self- 
defence.  He  thought  that  even  a  partial  recognition  of  the 
Bolshevists  would  strengthen  their  position,  and,  speaking 
for  himself,  he  thought  that  Bolshevism  was  already  a  seri- 
ous danger  in  his  country. 


APPENDIX  875 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  said  he  wished  to  put  one  or  two 
practical  questions  to  M.  Sonnino.  The  British  Empire  now 
had  some  15,000  to  20,000  men  in  Russia.  M.  de  Scavenius 
had  estimated  that  some  150,000  additional  men  would  be 
required,  in  order  to  keep  the  anti-Bolshevist  Governments 
from  dissolution.  And  General  Franchet  d'Esperey  also  in- 
sisted on  the  necessity  of  Allied  assistance.  Now  Canada 
had  decided  to  withdraw  her  troops,  because  the  Canadian 
soldiers  would  not  agree  to  stay  and  fight  against  the  Rus- 
sians. Similar  trouble  had  also  occurred  amongst  the  other 
Allied  troops.  And  he  felt  certain  that,  if  the  British  tried 
to  send  any  more  troops  there,  there  would  be  mutiny. 

M.  Sonnino  suggested  that  volunteers  might  be  called 
for. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George,  continuing,  said  that  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  raise  150,000  in  that  way.  He  asked,  however, 
what  contributions  America,  Italy,  and  France  would  make 
towards  the  raising  of  this  army. 

President  Wilson  and  M.  Clemenceau  each  said  none. 

M.  Orlando  agreed  that  Italy  could  make  no  further  con- 
tributions. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  said  that  the  Bolshevists  had  an  army 
of  300,000  men,  who  would,  before  long,  be  good  soldiers, 
and  to  fight  them  at  least  400,000  Russian  soldiers  would  be 
required.  Who  would  feed,  equip,  and  pay  them?  Would 
Italy,  or  America,  or  France  do  so?  If  they  were  unable 
to  do  that,  what  would  be  the  good  of  fighting  Bolshevism  ? 
It  could  not  be  crushed  by  speeches.  He  sincerely  trusted 
that  they  would  accept  President  Wilson's  proposal  as  it  now 
stood. 

M.  Orlando  agreed  that  the  question  was  a  very  difficult 
one  for  the  reasons  that  had  been  fully  given.  He  agreed 
that  Bolshevism  constituted  a  grave  danger  to  all  Europe. 
To  prevent  a  contagious  epidemic  from  spreading,  the  sani- 
tarians set  up  a  cordon  sanitaire.  If  similar  measures  could 
be  taken  against  Bolshevism,  in  order  to  prevent  its  spread- 


376  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

ing,  it  might  be  overcome,  since  to  isolate  it  meant  vanquish- 
ing it.  Italy  was  now  passing  through  a  period  of  depres- 
sion, due  to  war  weariness.  But  Bolshevists  could  never 
triumph  there,  unless  they  found  a  favourable  medium,  such 
as  might  be  produced  either  by  a  profound  patriotic  disap- 
pointment in  their  expectations  as  to  the  rewards  of  the  war, 
or  by  an  economic  crisis.  Either  might  lead  to  revolution, 
which  was  equivalent  to  Bolshevism.  Therefore,  he  would 
insist  that  all  possible  measures  should  be  taken  to  set  up 
this  cordon.  Next,  he  suggested  the  consideration  of  repres- 
sive measures.  He  thought  two  methods  were  possible: 
either  the  use  of  physical  force  or  the  use  of  moral  force. 
He  thought  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  objection  to  the  use  of 
physical  force  unanswerable.  The  occupation  of  Russia 
meant  the  employment  of  troops  for  an  indefinite  period  of 
time.  This  meant  an  apparent  prolongation  of  the  war. 
There  remained  the  use  of  moral  force.  He  agreed  with 
M.  Clemenceau  that  no  country  could  continue  in  anarchy, 
and  that  an  end  must  eventually  come;  but  they  could  not 

fait — they  could  not  proceed  to  make  peace  and  ignore 
ussia.  Therefore,  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  proposal,  with  the 
modifications  introduced  after  careful  consideration  by 
President  Wilson  and  M.  Clemenceau,  gave  a  possible  solu- 
tion. It  did  not  involve  entering  into  negotiations  with  the 
Bolshevists;  the  proposal  was  merely  an  attempt  to  bring 
together  all  the  parties  in  Russia  with  a  view  to  finding  a 
way  out  of  the  present  difficulty.  He  was  prepared,  there- 
•  fore,  to  support  it. 

President  Wilson  asked  for  the  views  of  his  Japanese 
colleagues. 

Baron  Makino  said  that  after  carefully  considering  the 
various  points  of  view  put  forward,  he  had  no  objections  to 
make  regarding  the  conclusions  reached.  He  thought  that 
was  the  best  solution  under  the  circumstances.  He  wished, 
however,  to  enquire  what  attitude  would  be  taken  by  the 
representatives  of  the  Allied  Powers  if  the  Bolshevists 


APPENDIX  377 

accepted  the  invitation  to  the  meeting,  and  there  insisted 
upon  their  principles.  He  thought  they  should  under  no 
circumstances  countenance  Bolshevist  ideas.  The  condi- 
.tions  in  Siberia  east  of  the  Baikal  had  greatly  improved. 
The  objects  which  had  necessitated  the  despatch  of  troops 
to  that  region  had  been  attained.  Bolshevism  was  no  longer 
aggressive,  though  it  might  still  persist  in  a  latent  form.  In 
conclusion,  he  wished  to  support  the  proposal  before  the 
meeting. 

President  Wilson  expressed  the  view  that  the  emissaries 
of  the  Allied  Powers  should  not  be  authorised  to  adopt  any 
definite  attitude  towards  Bolshevism.  They  should  merely 
report  back  to  their  Governments  the  conditions  found. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  asked  that  that  question  be  further 
considered.  He  thought  the  emissaries  of  the  Allied  Powers 
should  be  able  to  establish  an  agreement  if  they  were  able  to 
find  a  solution.  For  instance,  if  they  succeeded  in  reaching 
an  agreement  on  the  subject  of  the  organisation  of  a  Con- 
stituent Assembly,  they  should  be  authorised  to  accept  such 
a  compromise  without  the  delay  of  a  reference  to  the 
Governments. 

President  Wilson  suggested  that  the  emissaries  might  be 
furnished  with  a  body  of  instructions. 

Mr.  Balfour  expressed  the  view  that  abstention  from  hos- 
tile action  against  their  neighbours  should  be  made  a  con- 
dition of  their  sending  representatives  to  this  meeting. 

President  Wilson  agreed. 

M.  Clemenceau  suggested  that  the  manifesto  to  the  Rus- 
sian parties  should  be  based  solely  on  humanitarian  grounds. 
They  should  say  to  the  Russians,  "You  are  threatened  by 
famine ;  we  are  prompted  by  humanitarian  feelings,  we  are 
making  peace ;  we  do  not  want  people  to  die.  We  are  pre- 
pared to  see  what  can  be  done  to  remove  the  menace  of 
starvation."  He  thought  the  Russians  would  at  once  prick 
up  their  ears,  and  be  prepared  to  hear  what  the  Allies  had  to 
say.  They  would  add  that  food  cannot  be  sent  unless  peace 


S78  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

and  order  were  re-established.  It  should,  in  fact,  be  made 
quite  clear  that  the  representatives  of  all  parties  would 
merely  be  brought  together  for  purely  humane  reasons. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  said  that  in  this  connection  he  wished 
to  invite  attention  to  a  doubt  expressed  by  certain  of  the 
delegates  of  the  British  Dominions,  namely,  whether  there 
would  be  enough  food  and  credit  to  go  round,  should  an 
attempt  be  made  to  feed  all  Allied  countries,  and  enemy 
countries,  and  Russia  also.  The  export  of  so  much  food 
would  inevitably  have  the  effect  of  raising  food  prices  in 
Allied  countries,  and  so  create  discontent  and  Bolshevism. 
As  regards  grain,  Russia  had  always  been  an  exporting 
country,  and  there  was  evidence  to  show  that  plenty  of  food 
at  present  existed  in  the  Ukraine. 

President  Wilson  said  that  his  information  was  that 
enough  food  existed  in  Russia,  but  either  on  account  of  its 
being  hoarded  or  on  account  of  difficulties  of  transportation, 
it  could  not  be  made  available. 

It  was  agreed  that  President  Wilson  should  draft  a  proc- 
lamation, for  consideration  at  the  next  meeting,  inviting  all 
organised  parties  in  Russia  to  attend  a  meeting  to  be  held 
at  some  selected  place  such  as  Salonika  or  Lemnos,  in 
order  to  discuss  with  the  representatives  of  the  Allied  and 
Associated  Great  Powers  the  means  of  restoring  order  and 
peace  in  Russia.  Participation  in  the  meeting  should  be  con- 
ditional on  a  cessation  of  hostilities. 


APPENDIX  D 
THE  "FOURTEEN  POINTS" 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Armistice  negotiations  started 
from  the  acceptance  of  President  Wilson's  Fourteen  Points 
by  the  Germans,  and  that  the  Peace  Conference  pivoted 
round  those  points  as  modified  by  the  Allies  at  the  Ver- 


APPENDIX  379 

sailles  Council  of  October,  1918,  it  is  of  interest  to  attach 
a  full  and  complete  version  of  the  original  Fourteen  Points, 
as  set  forth  by  President  Wilson  in  his  great  speech  of 
January  8th,  1918: 

I.  OPEN  COVENANTS  of  peace  openly  arrived  at,  after 
which  there  shall  be  no  private  international  understandings 
of  any  kind,  but  diplomacy  shall  proceed  always  frankly 
and  in  the  public  view. 

II.  ABSOLUTE   FREEDOM   OF   NAVIGATION   upon   the  seas 
outside  the  territorial  waters,  alike  in  peace  and  in  war, 
except  as  the  seas  may  be  closed  in  whole  or  in  part  by 
international  action   for  the  enforcement  of  international 
covenants. 

III.  THE  REMOVAL,  so  FAR  AS  POSSIBLE,  of  all  economic 
barriers,   and  the  establishment  of  an  equality  of  trade 
conditions  among  all  the  nations  consenting  to  the  peace 
and  associating  themselves  for  its  maintenance. 

IV.  Adequate  guarantees  given  and  taken  that  NATIONAL 

ARMAMENTS    WILL  BE  REDUCED  TO   THE  LOWEST   POINT   COH- 

sistent  with  domestic  safety. 

V.  A  free,  open-minded,  and  absolutely  IMPARTIAL  AD- 
JUSTMENT OF  ALL  COLONIAL  CLAIMS,  based  upon  a  strict 
observance  of  the  principle  that  in  determining  all  such 
questions  of  sovereignty  the  interests  of  the  populations 
concerned  must  have  equal  weight  with  the  equitable  claims 
of  the  Government  whose  title  is  to  be  determined. 

VI.  THE    EVACUATION    OF    ALL    RUSSIAN    TERRITORY,    AND 
SUCH    A   SETTLEMENT  OF  ALL   QUESTIONS   AFFECTING  RUSSIA 
AS  WILL  SECURE  THE  BEST  AND  FREEST  CO-OPERATION  OF  THE 

OTHER  NATIONS  of  the  world  in  obtaining  for  her  an  unham- 
pered and  unembarrassed  opportunity  for  the  independent 
determination  of  her  own  political  development  and  national 
policy,  and  assure  her  of  a  sincere  welcome  into  the  society 
of  free  nations  under  institutions  of  her  own  choosing; 
and  more  than  a  welcome  assistance  also  of  every  kind  that 
she  may  need  and  may  herself  desire.  The  treatment  ac- 


380  THE  PRIME  MINISTER 

corded  to  Russia  by  her  sister  nations  in  the  months  to 
come  will  be  the  acid  test  of  their  good-will,  of  their  com- 
prehension of  her  needs  as  distinguished  from  their  own 
interests,  and  of  their  intelligent  and  unselfish  sympathy. 

VII.  BELGIUM,  THE  WHOLE  WORLD  WILL  AGREE,  MUST  BE 
EVACUATED  AND  RESTORED  without  any  attempt  to  limit  the 
sovereignty  which   she  enjoys  in  common  with  all   other 
free  nations.     No  other  single  act  will  serve  as  this  will 
serve  to  restore  confidence  among  the  nations  in  the  laws 
which  they  have  themselves  set  and  determined  for  the 
government  of  their  relations  with  one  another.     Without 
this  healing  act,  the  whole  structure  and  validity  of  inter- 
national law  is  for  ever  impaired. 

VIII.  ALL  FRENCH  TERRITORY  SHOULD  BE  FREED,  and  the 
invaded  portions  restored,  and  the  wrong  done  to  France  by 
Prussia  in  1871  in  the  matter  of  ALSACE-LORRAINE,  which 
has  unsettled  the  peace  of  the  world  for  fifty  years,  SHOULD 
BE  RIGHTED  in  order  that  peace  may  once  more  be  made 
secure  in  the  interests  of  all. 

IX.  A  READJUSTMENT  OF  THE  FRONTIERS  OF  ITALY  should 

be  effected  along  clearly  recognisable  lines  of  nationality. 

X.  THE  PEOPLES   OF  AUSTRIA-HUNGARY,   whose  place 
among  the  nations  we  wish  to  see  safeguarded  and  assured, 
should  be  accorded  the  first  opportunity  of  AUTONOMOUS 

DEVELOPMENT. 

XI.  Rumania,     Serbia,     and     Montenegro     should     be 
evacuated,   occupied  territories   restored,   Serbia   accorded 
free  and  secure  access  to  the  sea,  and  the  relations  of  the 
several  Balkan  States  to  one  another  determined  by  friendly 
counsel  along  historically  established  lines  of  allegiance  and 
nationality,  and  international  guarantees  of  the  political  and 
economic  independence  and  territorial  integrity  of  the  sev- 
eral Balkan  States  should  be  entered  into. 

XII.  THE  TURKISH  PORTIONS  of  the  present  Ottoman 
Empire  should  be  ASSURED  A  SECURE  SOVEREIGNTY,  but  the 
OTHER  NATIONALITIES  which  are  under  Turkish  rule  should 


APPENDIX  381 

be  ASSURED  AN  UNDOUBTED  SECURITY  OF  LIFE,  and  an  abso- 
lutely unmolested  opportunity  of  AUTONOMOUS  DEVELOP- 
MENT, and  the  DARDANELLES  should  be  PERMANENTLY 
OPENED  as  a  free  passage  to  the  ships  and  commerce  of  all 
nations  under  international  guarantees. 

XIII.  AN    INDEPENDENT    POLISH    STATE    SHOULD    BE 
ERECTED,  which  should  include  the  territories  inhabited  by 
INDISPUTABLY  POLISH  POPULATIONS,  which  should  be  as- 
sured  a  free  and  secure  access  to  the  sea,  and  whose  political 
and  economic  independence  and  territorial  integrity  should 
be  guaranteed  by  international  covenant. 

XIV.  A     GENERAL     ASSOCIATION     OF     NATIONS     ttlUSt     be 

formed  under  specific  covenant  for  the  purpose  of  affording 
mutual  guarantees  of  politcal  independence  and  territorial 
integrity  to  great  and  small  States  alike. 

NOTE. — Point  II  was  practically  cut  out  of  the  terms  by 
the  Versailles  Council.  Note  the  comprehensiveness  of 
Point  XIII,  which  explains  the  largeness  of  the  Polish 
claims.  Point  XIV  is  the  germ  of  the  League  of  Nations 
idea,  and  is  carried  out  in  the  famous  clause  10  of  the 
Covenant  since  rejected  by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

Note  that  there  is  no  mention  of  indemnities;  but  the 
Council  of  Versailles  opened  the  door  by  insisting  on  com- 
pensation to  civilian  populations.  The  £5,000,000,000 
claimed  in  the  Treaty  represents  an  instalment  of  that 
claim  which  is  estimated  as  likely  to  amount  to  £8,000,- 
000,000. 


INDEX 


Acland,    Sir    Arthur,    81,    168. 

Addison,  Dr.,  speech  on  Munitions, 
218;  Introduces  Housing  Bill,  314 

Agadir  Speech  at  Mansion  House, 
159 

Agricultural    Rates    Bill    (1896),    108 

Aisne,   the,    280 

Albert,    274 

American  Army  reinforcements, 
1918,  276 

Amiens,  151;  German  attempt  to 
capture,  277,  281 

Arabi    Pasha,    48 

Armentieres,    278 

Armistice,  conditions  of,  283;  de- 
clared, 284 

Arnold,    Matthew,    50,    147 

Asquith,  Mr.,  and  Welsh  Disestab- 
lishment, 105 ;  successor  to  Camp- 
bell-Bannerman,  112;  and  South 
African  War,  1 1 5 ;  in  opposition 
(1902),  129,  134;  and  Tariff  Re- 
form, 136;  Premier,  149;  evi- 
dence on  Bulgaria,  191;  munition 
speech,  Newcastle,  213;  recon- 
struction of  Government  (1915), 
214;  interview  of  December  1916, 
236;  negotiations  with  Mr.  Lloyd 
George,  237;  downfall  of  Govern- 
ment, 242;  refuses  Woolsack,  242; 
and  Maurice  incident,  267 

Athens,    184 

Aubers    Ridge,    attack    on,    214 

Austria,  strength  in  1915,  198;  Italy 
declares  war  on,  200;  surrenders, 
283 

Bailleul    278 

Balfour,  Mr.,  weakening  of  his  Gov- 
ernment, 130,  133;  Budget  (1910), 
164;  and  conference  of  1910,  165; 
attends  Peace  Conference,  287,  299 

Balkans,  the,  proposal  to  combine, 
179,  181 ;  German  intrigue  in,  184; 
suggestion  to  send  Mr.  Lloyd 
George,  196;  attempt  to  bring  to- 
gether, 192 

Bangor,  part  of  constituency,  78; 
speech  during  South  African  War, 
117,  123 

Bar   le   Due,    151 

Barnes,  Mr.  G.,  attends  Peace  Con- 
ference, 287;  remains  in  Govern- 
ment, 308 

Berlin,  154;  visit  to  Central  Insur- 
ance Office,  158 


Bethmann-Hollweg,  Herr,  entertained 
by,  154,  155 

Birmingham,  speech  on  South  Afri- 
can War,  117,  322 

Bissolati,  Signer,  Morning  Post  in- 
terview, 353 

Blunt,  Mr.   Wilfrid,  48 

Board    of    Education,    134 

Board  of  Trade,  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
appointed  President,  138;  work  at, 
139 

Bolshevists,  coup  d'etat  (1917),  272; 
peace  with  Germany,  272;  proposed 
Conference,  295 

Bonar  Law,  Mr.,  unable  to  form  Gov- 
ernment, 242;  attends  Peace  Con- 
ference, 287;  acts  as  leader  of  Gov- 
ernment, 313 

Booth,    Mr.    Charles,    167 

Borden,  Sir  R.,  and  Peace  Confer- 
ence, 287 

Botha,  General,  118,  119,  180;  con- 
quers South-West  Africa,  200;  and 
Peace  Conference,  287 

Brace,    Mr.   W.,   leaves   Coalition,  316 

Brecon,    133 

Breese,  Jones  and  Casson,  Messrs., 
solicitors,  41,  43,  54,  95 

Brest  Litovsk,  200;  peace  negotia- 
tions, 272 

Briand,    M.,    347 

British   Columbia,    visit    to,    1 14 

Brockdorff-Rantzau,  Herr,  Treaty  pre- 
sented, 302 

"Brutus,"    pen-name    (1880),    46 

Budget  (1890),  compensation  for 
licences,  88;  Conference  of  Party 
Leaders,  165;  (1909),  162;  thrown 
out  by  Lords,  164,  337 

Budget    League,    163 

Bukovina,  invasion  by  Russians,  176; 
Russians  driven  from,  197 

Bulgaria,  divided  in  counsel,  179; 
Greek  conditions  of  joining  war, 
186;  refuges  promise  of  neutrality, 
189;  pledged  to  Central  Powers, 
190;  offers  to  lend  troops,  191; 
president  Wilson  leans  towards, 
3°o 

Bullitt,  Mr.  W.  C.,  evidence  before 
American  Senate,  296;  Mission  to 
Russia,  296 

Burial  Act  (1880),  case  at  Llan- 
frothen,  66 

Burke,  Edmund,  124;  Mr.  Lloyd 
George's  opinion  of,  342 

Butler,    Sir   Wm.,    115 


383 


384 


INDEX 


jou: 
fror 


to 


sofia, 


IBuxton,  the  Brothers, 
Sofia,  184;  proposals 
187 

Byron,    Mr.    Lhyd    George's   admira- 
tion  of,   339 


Cadbury,  Mr.  George,   121 

Cadorna,  General,  Conference  July 
(1917),  262 

Caine,  Mr.  W.  S.,  53 

Camber    Williams,    Canon,    25 

Campbell-Bannerman,  Sir  H.,  Pre- 
mier, 112;  self-government  for 
South  Africa,  118;  in  opposition, 
129;  Premier  (1905),  138;  resigna- 
tion, 149 

Cannes,    328 

Carnarvon  Boroughs,  first  aspira- 
tions to  Parliament,  75 ;  adopted 
candidate,  78;  first  election,  84 

Carnarvon  and  Denbigh  Herald,  50, 
72,  80,  84 

Carpathians,  German  advance  in,    197 

Castberg,  Mr.,  Norwegian  Prime 
Minister,  345 

Castlereagh,    Lord,   300 

Casson,    Mr.,   solicitor,   42,   95 

Catechism,    revolt    against,    271 

Cecil,  Lord  Robert,  League  of  Na- 
tions Committee,  298 

Central  Powers,  division  amongst,  223 

Chalons-sur-Marne,    151 

Chamberlain,  Mr.  Joseph,  Radical 
programme  of,  53;  defence  of,  56; 
liquor  compensation,  90;  Kynoch 
debate,  125;  Tariff  Reform,  136; 
admiration  of,  232;  party  machine 
and,  336 

Champagne,   attack  in.  252 

Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  appointed,  149 

Churchill,   Lord   Randolph,    53,    90 

Churchill,  Mr.  Winston,  163;  Min- 
ister of  Munitions,  226 

City  Temple,  speech  at,  202 

Cividale,   253 

Clemenceau,  M.,  270,  275;  discussion 
of  Armistice  terms,  282;  and  Peace 
Conference,  288;  leanings  to  Turk- 
ey, 300;  after-war  problems,  304; 
in  I'Hontme  Enchaine,  350 

Clergy  Discipline  Bill,  opposition  to, 
1 02 

Clynes,  Mr.  J.  R.,  leaves  Coalition, 
308 

Coalition    Government   formed,    308 

Coleridge,  Chief  Justice,  Llanfrothen 
case,  68 

Compiegne,    151 

Conferences,  Allied  (1913).  186; 
Rome  (1917),  248;  Allied  Generals 
(1916),  251;  Rapallo  (1917).  254 

Congress    of    Vienna,  _  300 

Conscription,    conversion    to,    200 

Constantine,  King,  frustration  of 
Entente,  184;  unfriendly  to  British, 
190;  attempt  to  build  up  absolute 
monarchy,  193;  exiled,  194 


Cook,   Sir  Edward,   121 

County    Councils,    creation    of,    80 

Courland,  invaded  by  Russians,  196 

Creelman,    Mr.   J.,   354 

Criccieth,    u,    41,    73,    95,    98,    123 

Cromer,  Lord,  48 

Daily  News,  85;  transfer  of,  121;  at- 
tacks on  Government,  309 

Daniel,    D.   R.,   76 

Danube,  proposed  diversion  along 
line  of,  179 

Dardanelles  Report  of  Commission, 
178;  campaign  opens,  190;  in  prog- 
ress, 195 ;  composition  of  com- 
mittee, 196;  failure  of  naval  at- 
tack, 202;  meetings  of  committee, 
203 

Davitt,   Michael,  52-3 

Derby    Scheme,    202 

Denikin,    General,    297 

De  Wet,  General,   116,   119 

Dillon,    John,    no 

Disciples  of  Christ,  religious  sect, 
3,  412 

Disestablishment,  Welsh,  resolution 
at  meeting  of  National  Council 
(1889),  speech  at  Met.  Tabernacle, 
93;  production  of  Bill  (1893),  82; 
speech  at  Cardiff  (1907),  146,  104; 
Defaulting  Authorities  Act  (1904), 
133 

Downing  Street,  speech  on  Armis- 
tice Day,  285 

Du  Cane,  Lieut.-Gen.  Sir  J.  P., 
Munitions  Conference  (1915),  219 

Dunajec,    199 

Durazzo,    180 

Eastern  Prussia,  Russian  invasion  of, 
176 

Eastern  Galicia,  Russian  invasion  of, 
176 

Ebert,  Herr,  appointed  German  Chan- 
cellor, 284 

Education  Bill  (1902),  opposition  to, 
129 

Edwards,  Sir  Frank,  98,   132 

Elections,  parliamentary,  (1885),  56; 
financial  arrangements  for,  94; 
(1900),  127;  (1910),  164;  (2nd 
1910),  166;  (1918),  286,  306,  309; 
figures,  328 

Ellis,  "Tom,"  60,  77,  98 

Estimates,    criticism    of    (1890),    92 

European  War,  menace  of,  170;  de- 
clared. 171 

Evans,  David,  schoolmaster  of  Llany- 
stumdwy,  23,  38 

Evans,   Sir  Samuel,   65,  97 

Explosives  Committee,  formation  of, 
208 

Extension  of  Rents  Act,  passed,  316 

Fairbairn,  Principal,  341 
Falkenhayn,  General,  269 
Finland,  surrendered  to  Germany, 

292 
Fitzmaurice,    M.,    in    Figaro,    351 


INDEX 


385 


Fiume,  question  at  Peace  Confer- 
ence, 292 

Flavelle,    Sir   Richard,   356 

Foch,  Marshal,  Conference  (July, 
1917),  262;  appointed  Generalis- 
simo, 268;  exercises  powers  of  dis- 
position, 275;  conditions  of  Armis- 
tice, 282 

Fontainebleau,    302 

Fourteen  Points,  President  Wilson 
declares  them,  282 

Franchise,    extension    of,    307 

French,  Viscount,  and  shell  crisis 
(1915),  213 

Galicia,     German    preparations,     193; 

fighting  in,    196 

Gallipoli,    179;   evacuation   of,   205 
Geddes,    Sir   Eric,   appointed   Director 
of  Transport,   France,   233;  defends 
Transport  Bill,  323 
Gee,    Thomas,    and    Anti-Tithe    Cam- 
paign,   62,    83 

George,  Right  Hon.  D.  Lloyd,  for 
principal  dates  in  life  see  Appen- 
dix I 

George,    Gwilym    Lloyd    (son),    302 
George,    Mair   Lloyd    (daughter),   98; 

death  of,    149 

George,  Mary  (sister),  13,  18 
George,     Megan     Lloyd      (daughter), 

302 

George,  Olwen  Lloyd  (daughter),  98 
George,  Richard  Lloyd  (son),  94,  100, 

122 

George,  William    (father),   13,   16 

George,  Mrs.  William  (mother),  13, 
16,  18,  21,  36 

George,  William  (brother),  18,  29, 
55,  56,  94 

German   Navy   League,    156 

Germany,  tour  in,  150;  relations  with 
E_ngland  (1908-14),  160;  strength 
(in  1915),  197;  advance  (in  March, 
1918),  274;  mutiny  of  Fleet,  284 

Gladstone,  Mr.,  Government  of  1880, 
51;  in  debate  (1884),  53;  letter 
at  by-election  (1890),  84;  at  Ha- 
warden,  90;  and  Clergy  Discipline 
Bill,  102;  resignation  of  (1894), 
104 

Glasgow,  speech  at,  during  South 
African  War,  117 

Glyndwr.   Owen,   69 

Goffey,   Thomas,    37 

Gorizia,    246,    253 

Gray's  Inn,   first   London  home,  95 

Greece,  as  neutral,  179;  Entente  frus- 
trated by  King,  184;  agrees  to  join 
in  war,  186;  refuses,  197;  offers 
troops  and  fleet  for  Dardanelles, 
189;  offers  again  to  enter  war,  192 

Grey,  Lord,  and  South  African  War, 
115;  evidence  on  Dardanelles,  200 

Haig,    F.-M.    Lord,    agreement    with 

Foch,    275 

Hamburg,   visit  to,    156 
Handel,   339 


Hahkey,  Sir  M.,  at  Peace  Conference, 
289 

Harcourt,  Sir  Wm.,  approval  of 
maiden  speech,  91;  leader  of  House 
of  Commons,  105 

Health  Ministry  Bill,  introduced  and 
passed  315 

Henry,   Sir   Charles,   150 

Henry  of  Prussia,  Prince,  criticism 
of  estimates  providing  for  and  ex- 
penditure on,  92 

Hertling,    Count,    resignation    of,    273 

Hervier,  Paul  Louis,  in  Je  Sais  Tout, 
352 

"Highgate,"    18,    36,   40 

Hobhouse  Miss  E.  and  South  African 
Concentration  Camps,  120 

Home  Rule  (1885-6),  52,  84,  103; 
speech  to  exclude  Ulster  (1910), 
351;  for  Wales,  82,  101,  106 

House,  Colonel,  287;  and  Bullitt  Mis- 
sion, 296 

House  of  Commons,  suspension  from, 
.  in;  scene  over  Defaulting  Au- 
thorities Bill,  133 

Housing  Bill  introduced  and  passed, 
3U 

Hughes,  Mr.,  at  Peace  Conference, 
288 

Indemnities,  telegram  from  M.P.'s, 
300 

India,  extension  of  self-government, 
316 

Indian  Patriot,  article  in,  357 

Industrial   Courts  Act  passed,   316 

Insurance,  National,  investigation  of 
German  system,  150;  preparation  of 
Bill,  167;  passing  of  Bill,  168;  in- 
spiration of,  332 

Ireland,  conscription  extended  to, 
279;  outline  of  new  proposals,  316 

Isonzo,   246,   253 

Italian   Press,  opinions   of,   352 

Italy,  declares  war  on  Austria,  200; 
situation  (in  1917),  245;  German 
advance  (1917),  252;  British  rein- 
forcements for,  255 

Ivangorod,  200 


Johnson,  Dr.,  50 
Jones,    "Bobby," 


Jones,  J.   R.,   of  Ramoth,    17 

Jones,  Miss,  niece  of  Richard  Lloyd, 

21 

Jones,   Michael  of  Bala,   59 
Jones,     Rev.     Richard,     Llanfrothen, 

68 
Journal  de  Gendve,  358 

Kaiser,  the,  part  played  in  politics 
by  (1908),  156;  abdication  of,  284 

Kavalla,  fear  of  Bulgarians  seizing, 
189 

Kemmel,    278 

Kerensky,  M.,  destroyed  by  Lenin, 
272 

Kieff,   272 


386 


INDEX 


King  Edward  VII,  149;  visit  to  Czar, 

154;   death  of,    164 
King  George  V,  Conference  of  Party 

Leaders    (1910),    164;    formation   of 

Government   of   Mr.   Lloyd   George, 

242;    friendship   of,    343 


tion    Committee,    213;     shell    en 
(1915),  214;  death,  232,  262,  265 

Koltchak,    Admiral,    297 

Kovno,    200 

Kropotkin,   Prince,   346 

Kruger,   President,    1 14 

Labour  Conference,  Central  Hall,  309 

Labour  Party,  joins  Government, 
243;  leaves  Coalition,  307;  in  op- 
position, 309 

Land  Acquisition  Act   passed,   316 

Land,  appointment  of  Committee  of 
Inquiry,  168;  preparation  of  Bills 
(1914),  i?o 

Lansdowne,    Lord,    163 

Lansing,  Mr.,  and  Committee  of 
League  of  Nations,  298 

Laurier,    Sir   Wilfrid,    356 

League  of  Nations,  conception  of 
scheme,  298 

Lemnos,  295 

Lenin,  destroys  Kerensky  Govern- 
ment, 272,  279 

Lens,   252 

Le   Journal,    351 

L'CEuvre,  349 

Le   Temps,   349 

Lewis,   Mr.    Herbert,   98,    no,    in 

Leygues,  Georges,  in  Evenement,  347 

Licensing  Act   (1905),    136 

Lithuania,  surrendered  to  Germany, 
272 

Llanystumdwy,   n,  20,  23,  39,  42,   169 

Llanfrothen,    66 

Lloyd,  Richard  (uncle),  24,  31,  35, 
39,  45,  72,  93,  ioi 

Lloyd,    David    (grandfather),   20 

Local  Veto,  resolution  at  meeting  of 
National  Liberal  Federation,  81 

London,  first  visit,  49;  commence- 
ment of  practice,  97 

Loucheur,   M.,   287 

Lowther,    Right   Hon.    J.   W.,    133 

Ludendorff,  General,  attack  on  Italy, 
252,  270;  waning  of  hopes  of,  278; 
suggestion  for  armistice  by,  281 

Macedonia,  Allies  to  occupy,  192 

Maddocks,   A.,  41 

Manchester,  birthplace,  14;  meeting 
of  National  Liberal  Federation,  81; 
speech  (1918),  281 

Manchester  _  Guardian,  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  writes  for,  98 

Manisty,  Mr.  Justice,  and  Llan- 
frothen, 68 

Marconi    Controversy,    169 

Markham,    Sir    Arthur,    166 

Marlborough,    the    Duke   of,    163 


Marne,    the,    280 

Martineau,    Henry,    14 

Maurice,  Major-General  Sir  F.,  Let- 
ter to  Press  and  retirement,  267 

Max  of  Baden,  Prince,  overtures  to 
President  Wilson,  282;  resignation 
of,  284 

Merchant    Shipping    Act    (1906),    142 

Meredith,   George,  admiration  of,   3J9 

Merionethshire,    133 

Messines,   278 

Metropolitan  Tabernacle,  speech  on 
Wejsh  Disestablishment  at,  26 

Mezieres,  274 

Milan,  247,  253 

Military  control,  effect  of  divided, 
249;  need  for  unification,  250; 
unity  of  command  decided  on,  254; 
speech  at  Paris  on  (1917),  258 

Military  Service  Acts  (1916),  effect 
of,  231;  (1917)  introduced,  272; 
raising  of  age,  278 

Millet,  Philippe,  349 

Milner,  Lord,  114;  attends  Peace 
Conference,  287 

Miners'  crisis,  Sankey  Commission 
appointed,  311 

Minsk,  272 

Mo ns,   175,  284 

Montagu,  Mr.  E.,  Munition  State- 
ment (1916),  221,  224,  229;  joins 
Government  (1916),  243;  attends 
Peace  Conference,  287 

Morley,  Lord,  112,  149,  197 

Morning  Post,  attacks  on  Govern- 
ment, 309;  interview  with  Signor 
Bissolati,  353 

Morvin  House,  Criccieth,  45,  55 

Moulton,  Lord,  and  Committee  on 
Munitions,  230 

Munitions,  need  for,  206;  committee 
appointed,  213;  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
becomes  Minister  of,  216;  forma- 
tion of  Department,  218;  trades 
unions  and  "leaving  certificates," 
225;  organisation  of  volunteer 
workers,  228 

Mynydd  Ednyfed,  home  of  Mrs. 
Lloyd  George,  69,  72 


Nancy,  151 

Nanney,  Sir  Ellis  Hugh,  opponent  at 
election  (1890),  83,  87,  105 

Nantlle,  Lake,  prosecution  of  quarry- 
men  for  fishing,  64 

Nansen,  Dr.,  proposed  Russian  expe- 
dition. 297 

Neuye  Chapelle,   199 

Nevin,  speech  on  South  African 
War,  123  , 

Newcastle  Programme   (1891),    103 

Newman,  Cardinal,   50 

Nivelle,  General,  245;  Chamoagne 
attack,  252;  replaced  by  Petain, 
252 

Norman,  Sir  Henry,  163 

Northcliffe,  Lord,  and  communica- 
tions on,  the  Eastern  Front,  240 


INDEX 


387 


North     Wales     Observer,     article    on 

Mr.  Chamberlain,  51 
Novo-Georgievsk,  200 

Old    Age    Pensions,    pacsing    of    Act, 

150,  161;  increase  in,  316 
Orlando,     Signor,     and     question     of 

Fiume,   294 
Owen,   D.   Lloyd,  42 
Owen,  Rev.  John,  72 
Owen,     Miss     Maggie     (Mrs.     Lloyd 

George),  59;  marriage  of,  71 
Owen,      Mrs.,     of       Dolgelly      (Llan- 

f  rot  hen),   66 
Owens,  Rev.  Owen,  25 
Oxford,  impressions  of,  326 

Palace  Mansions,  Kensington,  second 
London  home,  95 

Paris,  speech  on  unity  of  control  at, 
258;  German  attack  towards, 
(1918),  280;  social  life  during 
Peace  Conference  in,  300 

Parry,  John,  and  Anti-tithe  Cam- 
paign, 62,  83 

Passchendaele,  252 

Patents  Act,   144 

Peace  Conference,  preliminaries,  286; 
first  meeting,  288;  correspondents 
at,  289;  proposed  Bolshevist  Confer- 
ence, 295 

Peace  Treaty,  presented  and  ratified, 
3f>3 

Pedigree  of   Mr.   Lloyd   George,    13 

Pencaenewydd,  place  of  marriage, 
72 

Penrhyn,  55 

Petain,  General,  245 

Phillimore  Report,  basis  of  League  of 
Nations,  298 

Philippi,  Philippo,  246 

Pichon,  M.,  287 

Platt,  Colonel,  opponent  at  election 
(1900),  95 

Poisoned  arrow  incident,  324 

Portmadoc,  n,  41,  46,  55,  94,  96,  122; 
Debating  Society,  47 

Poland,  surrendered  to  Germany, 
273>  question  of  Peace  Confer- 
ence, 292,  303 

Port  of  London  Act,  145 

Prime  Minister,  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
sent  for  by  the  King,  242 

Prinkipo,    295 

Puleston,  Sir  John,  opponent  at  sec- 
ond election,  105 

Pwllheli,   14,   123 

Queen  Victoria,  80 

Railway     strikes,     threat     of     (1907), 

146;  (1919),  3" 
Rapallo  Conference,  254 
Reinforcements,        situation,        March 

(1918),  276 

Religious  tendencies,   340 
Rendel,  Lord,  337 
Repington,     Lieut.-Colonel     C.     A'C., 

Times  shell  despatch,   214 


Rheims,  151 

Ritchie,  Lord,  and  creation  of  County 
Councils,  80 

Roberts,  A.  Rhys,  professional  part- 
ner in  London,  97,  122 

Roberts,  Mr.  G.  H.,  remains  in  Gov- 
ernment, 308 

Robertson,  Sir  Wm.,  Allied  Confer- 
ence (1917),  262;  opposition  to 
Versailles  Council,  264;  refuses 
position  on  Versailles  Council,  267 

Rome,  Allied  Conference   (1917),  248 

Roosevelt,    President,    336,   355 

Rosebery  Government,  fall  of,  105; 
resignation,  112 

"Rose   Cottage,"   boyhood  home,    18 

Rothschild  Pensions  Committee,   138 

Routh  Road,  Wandsworth,  London 
home,  119 

Rue  Nitot,  residence  in  Paris  during 
Peace  Conference,  301 

Rumania,  179,  184;  Greek  conditions 
of  joining  war,  186;  less  friendly, 
188;  success  of  Germans,  196;  de- 
clares war,  235 

Russia,  situation,  opening  of  (1915), 
178;  fearful  of  Greece,  191;  diverts 
Germans  from  Serbia,  192;  col- 
lapse, 272;  proposed  Bolshevist  Con- 
ference, 295 

Saar  Valley,  292,  303 

St.    Asaph,    Bishop   of,    132 

St.   Quentin,   268,   275 

Salisbury,    Lord,    248 

Salonika,   179,  180,  295 

Samsonoff,    General    175 

Samuel,  Mr.  Herbert,  refuses  office, 
243 

Sanitorium   benefit,    creation,    333 

Sankey  Commission,  inquiry  into  con- 
dition of  miners,  311 

Sarn  Melltcyrn,  debate  with  curate 
(1887),  62 

Sartor    Resartus,    46 

Schools  Act   (1904-6),   136 

Scotland  Yard,   319 

Scott,   Sir  Walter,   50 

Serbia,  question  of  saving,  187;  Bos- 
nia and  Herzegovina  to  be  given 
to,  192;  plan  to  assist,  202. 

Shelley,   Percy   Bysshe,   41 

Shortt,    Mr.,    Transport    Bill,    313 

Sidebotham,    Herbert,    120 

Siedlce,    200 

Silesia,  Plebiscite,  293,  303 

Smuts  General,  119;  Memo,  on 
League  of  Nations,  298 

Sofia,    187 

Soissons,    151 

Somerset  House,  investigation  of 
system  of  working,  329 

Sorel,    M.,    312 

South  African  War,  outbreak,  114; 
opposition  to,  116,  117 

Strassburg,    151 

Stavridi,  Sir  John,  suggests  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  should  go  to  the  Bal- 
kans, 190 


388 


INDEX 


Stuttgart,    153;    conversation   at,    327 

Suffragettes,  in  favour  of  leniency, 
325 

Sullivan,  Donald,   no 

Swetenham,  Mr.  Q.C.,  M.P.,  Car- 
narvon Boroughs  (1886),  77;  death, 
82 

Tagliamento,    253 

Tannenberg,    175 

Tariff  Reform,  fight  against  (1903- 
6),  137 

Tariff    Reform    Leajrue,    164 

Tardieu,    M.,    287  ~ 

Temple,   The,   London   home,   95 

Tennant,  Mr.  H.  J.,  and  shell  crisis 
(1915),  214 

Tery,  Gustave,  in  La    Victovre,   350 

Thomas,  M.  Albert,  friendship  with, 
187;  rearming  of  France,  211; 
Munitions  Conference,  220,  347 

Thomas,  Mr.  D.  A.  (Lord  Rhondda), 
107 

Thomas,  Mr.  J.  H.,  and  railway 
strike,  313 

Thomasson,  Mr.  F.,  Transfer  of 
Daily  News,  121 

Ticino,   246 

Times,  The,  attack  on  Asquith  Gov- 
ernment (1916),  240 

Transport  Bill,  introduced  and 
passed,  313 

Treasury,  habits  of  work  at,  329 

Trevelyan,    Sir  George,  53 

Tithes   Bill    (1899),    112 

Trotsky,  M.,  attempts  to  declare 
peace,  272 

Trumpet    of   Freedom    (1888),    76 

Tube  strike,    309 

Turkey,  strength  (in  1915),  198;  sur- 
renders, 283;  forfeited  right  to  rule 
over  Christians,  300 

Turnin,   247,   253 

Udine,  253 

Ukraine,  surrendered  to  Germans,  273 
Ulster,   crisis    (1914),    170;    speech  to 
exclude    (1910),    337 


Valenciennes,   284 

Venice,    253 

Venizelos,  M.  Greece  agrees  to  join 
Allies,  1 86;  refuses,  188;  Bulgaria 
pledged  to  Central  Powers,  190; 
resignation  of,  193;  resumes  office, 
194;  mainstay  of  alliance  in  Near 
East,  300,  346 

Verdun,    302 

Versailles  Council,  set  up,  255;  func- 
tions, and  opposition  to,  258;  de- 
fence in  House  of  Commons,  262; 
meetings  of,  280 

Vienna,    248 

Villa  Murat,  Parisian  residence  of 
President  Wilson,  301 

Villers   Bretonneux,   278 

Vitry,    151 

Voluntary  Schools  Bill  (1897),  i°9' 
in 

Voluntary  system  of  recruiting, 
doubts  as  to,  199 

Von  Below,  General,  attack  on  Italy, 
252 

Von  Tirpitz,   Admiral,  269 

Vosges,   The,    151 

War,  Secretary  of  State  for,  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  appointed  (1916),  233 

War    Cabinet,    formation    (1916),    244 

War  Committee,  suggested  daily  sit- 
tings, 178 

Warsaw,    176,   200 

Watkins,    Sir    Edward,     100 

White,    Mr.    Henry,    287 

Williams,  Llewellyn,  98 

Williams,  William,  boyhood  friend, 
24,  29 

Wilson,  President,  158;  organises  re- 
inforcements (1918),  276;  overtures 
from  Prince  Max,  282;  arrives  at 
Paris,  286;  at  Peace  Conference, 
290;  League  of  Nations  scheme, 
298,  299;  return  from  America  of, 
303;  contrast,  355 

Ypres,    199,   252 
Zeppelin,   Count,    153 


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Spender,  Harold. 
The  Prime  minister. 


